Talks could lead to new inspections

The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, held a final meeting yesterday with the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tariq Aziz, …

The UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, held a final meeting yesterday with the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tariq Aziz, amid signals that Baghdad could resume co-operation with UN weapons inspectors.

But according to western diplomats, Mr Aziz has not made any specific commitments during five days of talks with UN Security Council members, and is unlikely to make an announcement before briefing the Baghdad leadership.

The 15-member Security Council insists that Iraq must rescind an August 5th decision suspending co-operation with the UN inspectors, before a "comprehensive review" of Iraqi sanctions can take place.

Western diplomats say that Mr Annan and Mr Aziz have been discussing the contents of the comprehensive review, which Iraq hopes will lead to the lifting of sanctions in place since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

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Mr Aziz is pressing for a clearlydefined timetable and has been sounding out council members - all except the US delegation, which refused to meet him - to assess whether the proposals are serious and substantive.

The council says, however, that before the review can get under way the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) and the International Atomic Energy Agency must report that they have fully resumed their disarmament work in Iraq, including inspections.

UNSCOM, and its Australian chairman, Mr Richard Butler, have appeared increasingly isolated since Mr Annan opened a direct line with Iraq.

Mr Aziz has ignored UNSCOM since arriving in New York with a team of technical experts last week. UN weapons specialists admit that they have been short-circuited by the Annan-Aziz talks.

"What's UNSCOM?" one western diplomat asked sarcastically yesterday. The diplomat said that the UN agency, which has had its impartiality undermined by revelations by a former weapons inspector and press articles about UNSCOM co-operation with Israel, was now suffering from competition with Mr Annan and his team.

Mr Butler is due to submit his report to the council on Iraqi disarmament on Monday.