The general who is expected command an invasion of Iraq has presented U.S. President Bush and his key advisers the latest Pentagon scenario for a U.S. attack. Gen. Tommy Franks, who oversaw the war in Afghanistan, delivered the plan Monday at the White House, AP reported.
In New York, Secretary-General Kofi Annan was seeking to clarify whether the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein is ready to accept the return of U.N. weapons inspectors under the conditions laid out by the Security Council. If Iraq agrees to the council's roadmap, Annan stated, he would look at Iraq's invitation to chief weapons inspector Hans Blix to visit Baghdad for technical talks "in a different light." Annan planned to send a letter to Iraq on Tuesday.
Annan discussed the invitation from Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri with the 15 members of the Security Council at a private lunch Monday. He raised for the first time the possibility of the return of inspectors, who have been barred from Iraq since November 1998.
"All members of the council agree that we should do everything to get the inspectors back, and if Iraq is open to that sort of idea, there are practical bases for moving forward, and this is something we are going to explore in the next letter," Annan said. U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard stated Annan planned to send the letter Tuesday.
"We will need to get them to understand the requirements of the council, and we are prepared to deal with them on that basis," Annan said. "Depending upon the answer, there could be discussions at the technical level." "Whether this is a real break and a real change in attitude is something that we will have to test," he said. (Albawaba.com)
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