Global Policy Forum

By Nicole Winfield

The United Nations and Iraq agreed Tuesday to begin talks on ending the two-year deadlock over U.N. weapons inspections and 10-year-old sanctions at the start of the new year, U.N. officials said. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Ambassador Saeed Hasan made the decision during a follow-up meeting to this month's Islamic summit in Qatar, during which Annan and senior Iraqi officials agreed to open a "dialogue" on finding solutions to the impasse. It was believed that an Iraqi delegation would travel to U.N. headquarters in New York for the talks.

The two sides were aiming to start the meetings after the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in the beginning of 2001, a U.N. official said.

U.N. weapons inspections ended abruptly in December 1998 just before the United States and Britain launched airstrikes to punish Baghdad for failing to cooperate with U.N. weapons searches. Sanctions imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait cannot be lifted until inspectors report Iraq has destroyed all of its weapons of mass destruction.

Diplomats have reported a flurry of behind-closed-door activity in recent weeks as the United Nations and Security Council members attempt to restart weapons inspections while trying to maintain sanctions, which Iraq and its allies have been challenging in recent months.

Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz was in Moscow on Tuesday for talks with Russia's Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. The talks were to focus on improving relations with the United Nations that may lead to disarmament and the lifting of sanctions. Russia has recently stepped up its efforts for the repeal of sanctions against Iraq. To that end, Ivanov urged Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein this month to allow international weapons inspectors to return to Iraq.

In another development Tuesday, diplomats confirmed that Annan has chosen one of his top political advisers, Rolf Knutsson of Sweden, as the executive secretary of the U.N. commission created to compensate victims of the Gulf War. The Compensation Commission is scheduled to undergo a review of the way it approves war reparations now that it has begun considering large payouts to corporations that say they incurred losses as a result of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The United States and Britain are said to be displeased with Annan's selection of Knutsson on the grounds that he may be too favorable to Iraq and its key allies, Russia, France and China. They, as well as the 12 other Security Council members, sit on the compensation committee and consider requests for reparations, which are paid for by U.N.-supervised sales of Iraqi oil.