Iraq is insisting it will comply with current UN resolutions on disarmament but will not accept a new UN resolution that would impose fresh conditions on disarmament.
"Iraq will not deal with any new resolution that would run counter to what was agreed upon with the UN secretary general," Kofi Annan, an Iraqi spokesman said following a leadership meeting chaired by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Foreign Minister Naji Sabri briefed Saddam and his aides on the meetings he held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York.
Sabri gave Annan a letter on Monday saying Iraq was willing to allow the unconditional return of UN arms inspectors after a hiatus of nearly four years, but the United States is pushing for a tough new Security Council resolution on disarmament.
Iraq is ruling out additional conditions following "press reports that US officials are trying to get the Security Council to issue new, bad resolutions," said the Iraqi spokesman, quoted by the official Iraqi News Agency (INA).
The leadership meeting was also attended by Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, parliament speaker Saadun Hammadi, and Ali Hassan al-Majeed, an influential member of the ruling Revolution Command Council (RCC).
Despite Iraq's acceptance of the unconditional return of arms inspectors, the United States is demanding a new Security Council resolution that would spell out the consequences if Baghdad does not honor its obligations.
US President George W. Bush, who has described Saddam's regime as "a grave and gathering danger," has already sought a green light from Congress to use force if the United Nations fails to disarm Iraq.
AFP