Global Policy Forum

By Colum Lynch

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan will meet Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri next week to press Baghdad to allow U.N. weapons inspectors into the country for the first time in more than three years, according to a U.N. spokesman.

The U.N. chief is seeking to head off a military confrontation between Iraq and the United States, which has demanded that Baghdad permit unfettered access to U.N. weapons inspectors to let them hunt for the country's suspected chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs. But U.N. officials say that Iraq has provided no indication that it is prepared to let the inspectors back.

U.N. officials said Annan would try to limit the March 7 discussions to a handful of key issues, including Iraq's obligation to permit the inspectors' return and to account for hundreds of Kuwaiti nationals who disappeared during Iraq's occupation of Kuwait. "The secretary general expects to have a focused discussion on the implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, including the return of U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq," said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein asked Annan through an Arab League intermediary last month to resume discussions on Iraq's fate. The March 7 talks will last one day, but may resume following the Feb. 27-28 summit of Arab foreign ministers in Beirut.

U.S. officials have made it clear to Annan that he can offer no concessions to Iraq in exchange for a commitment to let the inspectors return to Iraq. "The talks should be brief," said a U.S. official. "Iraq needs to comply with all U.N. resolutions. There is no compromise." Annan cautioned the United States to show restraint. Following a meeting in London with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Annan told reporters that "any attack on Iraq at this stage would be unwise."

Iraq is bound by a 1991 U.N. agreement ending the Persian Gulf War to permit unconditional access to U.N. weapons inspectors. The inspectors destroyed massive quantities of Iraqi weapons before they were withdrawn from the country in 1998. Iraq has refused to permit the inspectors to return, saying they will spy on Iraq for the United States. There is "no need for the return of the spy teams," Iraq's Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan told the INA news agency recently.

Russia's U.N. ambassador, Sergei Lavrov, said he is confident that Iraq can be persuaded to allow the resumption of U.N. inspections. "We have been always saying that this dialogue is one of the main means to achieve some improvement in the overall situation around Iraq," he said.

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