UN Secretary General Kofi Annan hopes to renew talks with top Iraqi officials early in the new year and will try to persuade them to allow the UN to resume arms inspections, Annan's spokesman said Wednesday.
Spokesman Fred Eckhard said that Annan wanted to follow up on a meeting he had with Iraq's second highest official, Ezzat Ibrahim, during a pan-Islamic conference in Doha, the capital of the Gulf emirate of Qatar, on November 13.
Annan discussed the date of a new meeting with the Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations, Saeed Hassan, on Tuesday and "they agreed to shoot for after Ramadan, early next year," the spokesman said.
Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, ends on December 27.
Eckhard said he could not say where the talks would be held.
"In Doha, he asked the Iraqis to consider what shape the talks should have and what the agenda should be," he said, and added that the Iraqis had yet to reply.
After the 40-minute meeting in Doha, Iraq said that "both sides accepted ... to engage in a comprehensive dialogue without any preconditions."
Asked what Annan hoped to achieve from the dialogue, Eckhard replied:
"He would hope that Iraq would agree to accept inspections as a first step towards full compliance with resolutions of the Security Council." -- UNITED NATIONS (AFP)
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