Iraqi ambassador meets Annan in New York

The Iraqi ambassador to the UN has met the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, in New York.

The Iraqi ambassador to the UN has met the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, in New York.

Mr Mohammed Al-Dour, who yesterday became the first Iraqi official to concede defeat, refused to disclose any details of the meeting.

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Defecting from who? I think the government has already defected. There is no more Iraqi government to be defected from
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The Iraqi ambassador to the UN, Mr Mohammed Al-Dour, when asked if he would be defecting

He told journalists waiting outside his New York residence afterwards: "I am sorry. No comment at all. This is my last word to you."

Asked who should govern Iraq, he said: "I have nothing to do with that."

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Mr Annan's office also declined to comment on his meeting.

His pokesman said: "We have nothing to say about that meeting. It was requested by the ambassador and we feel that anything to be said about what happened in that meeting should be said by the ambassador."

Mr Al-Douri declared "the game is over" when questioned by reporters yesterday, after pictures of US forces in the centre of Baghdad were beamed around the world.

He expressed hope that the Iraqi people will now be able to live in peace, adding he had not been in touch with Baghdad.

He also said he would continue to work at the United Nations and had no intention of defecting.

"Defecting from who?" he asked. "I think the government has already defected. There is no more Iraqi government to be defected from."

AP