Paris - Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tareq Aziz, urged the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, at a meeting yesterday to help in overcoming obstacles delaying the lifting of UN sanctions against his country.
"The time has come to lift the sanctions," Mr Aziz said at a press conference after an unscheduled meeting with Mr Annan,
their first encounter since clinching a deal in February that ended a crisis over weapons inspections.
Mr Annan, for his part, said he was "satisfied things have much improved and that Iraq has lived up to its obligations". But he stressed that Mr Aziz "believes things can be improved on our side".
"They want to co-operate with the United Nations to get sanctions behind them as soon as possible," Mr Annan said.
