Paris - Efforts to avert a strike against Iraq gathered pace here yesterday, with the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, and the French Foreign Minister, Mr Hubert Vedrine, pleading for renewed attempts to settle the crisis through diplomacy.
The pleas came amid signs of gathering momentum on the diplomatic front, with the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr Yevgeny Primakov, due in Paris today and the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, arriving tomorrow. France and Russia are still hoping to convince Baghdad to work with the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) on disarming Iraq, and a special Russian envoy arrived in Baghdad late yesterday carrying a message from President Yeltsin.
The French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, said after meeting Mr Annan that he wanted Iraq to be allowed to double oil exports under the UN oil-for-food resolution a deal that if accepted by the UN would help alleviate problems of the sanctions-hit Iraqi people.