Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan held talks on the possible return of UN arms inspectors to Iraq and decided to meet again in mid-April.
The UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said they also focused on problems dating from the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, such as missing persons and the return of Kuwaiti property, and that Annan found the talks "both frank and useful".
The US government had already made clear that it expected Annan to do no more than insist on the return of the arms inspectors, who were withdrawn more than three years ago and have not been allowed to return, AFP reported. But Eckhard stated Sabri raised "a number of specific concerns" including the lifting of the UN sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990, as well as the no-fly zones policed by British and US warplanes.
"It was agreed that the two parties would meet for further discussions in mid-April, based on a well-defined agenda agreed in advance," Eckhard said. "We had a constructive and positive exchange of views," Sabri told reporters after leaving Annan's office to fly to Cairo for a meeting of Arab foreign ministers to prepare for an Arab summit in Beirut on March 27 and 28.
Eckhard said "the discussion was much more focused" than when Annan last met officials from Baghdad, conferring with Sabri's predecessor, Said al-Sahhaf, on February 26 and 27 last year.
Progress was made on at least one issue: "they agreed that a concrete way will be found for Iraq to return some Kuwaiti property through the United Nations," Eckhard said. One Security Council ambassador said, however, that the meeting should be seen as merely the start of a process.
Substantial negotiations would start only if Iraq indicated clearly in April that it was willing to let the arms inspectors back without conditions, he said, adding that the five permanent council members were at one on the issue.
For his part, Sabri described Iraq's concerns as "legitimate" but declined to go into details of how he intended to pursue the dialogue, saying: "I don't think you expect me to speak about the plans."
The Iraqi delegation included Hossan Amin, a former general, head of Iraq's national monitoring directorate, and an expert on the missiles and chemical and biological weapons which Iraq claims to have destroyed.
Annan's team included Hans Blix, chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) which was set up in December 1999 but has not been allowed to enter Iraq. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
