U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri ended a three-day meeting Friday with an agreement to hold another round of talks, which the United Nations hopes will lead to a return of U.N. weapons inspectors.
Sabri called the talks "useful" and said there would be another round of talks, though dates had to be worked out. "We continued to debate in the same spirit of cooperation and positive spirit which characterized our meeting last time in March," Sabri told reporters at the end of the Friday meeting. "And hopefully we shall continue this in the next round." Annan was to brief the Security Council on the outcome of the talks late Friday.
Annan and Sabri started the final session with a 10-minute one-on-one meeting — their second tete-a-tete — and were then joined by their delegations.
"This was the first time that the U.N. and Iraqi technical experts — the first time in several years — have been able to talk shop," U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Friday. "I think both sides found it very useful." (Albawaba.com)
