Iraq Says No Return of UN Arms InspectorsIraq said here Monday that it will not allow U.N. arms inspectors to return even if the sanctions are lifted.Iraq made no compromise over its stand on U.N. arms inspection after the first round of talks with U.N. officials at the world body's headquarters in New York. Speaking to the press after his meeting with U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan, Iraqi Foreign Minister Al-Sahaf reiterated that there will be no return for any inspectors to Iraq. If they do, the inspectors should start with Israel because it has atomic arsenals and all other arsenals, the foreign minister said. Al-Sahaf said he has presented the U.N. chief the documents which clearly show Iraq has nothing of so-called weapons of mass destruction. So the United Nations Security Council should immediately lift the 10-year sanctions against his country, he added. The two-day meeting between the U.N. chief and the Iraqi foreign minister is aimed to break the current impasse over U.N. arms inspection in Iraq which has been suspended since December 1998 when the United States and Britain launched military strikes against the country. Both the United Nations and Iraq downplayed the talks. Annan said he did not expect miracles from the two-day talks. |
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