UN arms experts sought unlimited access to all Iraqi sites during talks in Vienna as US and British diplomats prepared to put a draft "tough" resolution on Iraq to the UN Security Council.
The Anglo-US resolution would be presented by Wednesday, a UN diplomat said, but Washington is also considering a series of resolutions in an attempt to overcome opposition to its stance from other UN Security Council members.
The five permanent members of the Security Council are to start work Tuesday on a draft resolution on Iraq, diplomats said, according to AFP.
Meanwhile, Mohammed El-Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said UN experts progressed on the first of the two days of talks with Iraqi official but did not provide details."I think we are making progress," he said. "But I think we still have a lot of work to do."
Hans Blix, chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission which organises the inspections, said the Iraqis were "trying their best ... to expedite our requirements for effective inspections but we are not there yet."
El-Baradei said the two sides had discussed access to sensitive sites such as the defense ministry, garrisons of the elite Republican Guard troops and the headquarters of the ruling Baath party."We'd like to restore as much of any time, any place unfettered access as possible," El-Baradei conveyed.
In a related development, British public support for a possible war on Iraq has declined from 37 percent to 33 percent in the past week, according to a London newspaper poll published Tuesday. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
