Iraq urges ‘technical discussions’ on UN arms inspections

Iraq has urged fresh "technical discussions" on renewed UN arms inspections "to achieve the full implementation of Security Council…

Iraq has urged fresh "technical discussions" on renewed UN arms inspections "to achieve the full implementation of Security Council resolutions in accordance with the UN Charter", an official text of its reply to UN chief Kofi Annan has said.

"We are renewing this offer for the holding of technical discussions to review what was achieved in the last phase (of weapons inspections) and discuss how to tackle issues which were still not settled when the inspectors left Iraq of their own accord in 1998," Foreign Minister Naji Sabri wrote to Annan.

"The technical delegation from the United Nations will be able to raise all matters it deems necessary to advance the discussions and establish the groundwork for the next phase of monitoring and inspection," the letter said.

Iraq was "keen to continue dialogue with the UN Secretariat, despite the difficulties, with the aim of fully implementing Security Council resolutions in accordance with the UN Charter."

On August 6th, Annan wrote to Sabri asking him to confirm Iraq's readiness to abide by all Security Council resolutions, after he rejected an offer from Baghdad for talks with chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix.

In New York, a spokeswoman said the United Nations had received a reply from the Iraqi government setting out its position on the possible resumption of UN arms inspections.

The letter was received late last night and was still being translated from Arabic into English, a spokeswoman said, adding that for the moment she did not know what it contained.

AFP

  • Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date

  • Sign up for push alerts to get the best breaking news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone

  • Listen to In The News podcast daily for a deep dive on the stories that matter