Iraq and the United Nations resume talks today after a two-year gapwhen a Baghdad delegation meets Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan on the impasse over trade sanctions and inspections of Iraq's weapons.
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Mr Kofi Annan
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Disarmament issues are on the agenda for this morning and humanitarian concerns in the afternoon. Any unfinished business will be taken up tomorrow.
Expectations are low that the talks will produce an early agreement on issues that have eluded UN officials and a divided 15-nation Security Council, including allowing arms inspectors to verify Iraq no longer has any weapons of mass destruction.
With the recent US-British airstrikes over Iraq, some UN officials fear the meetings will turn into a propaganda exercise with the Baghdad team, led by Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, blasting Washington.
"Nevertheless," Mr Annan said, "You have to have some hope. Otherwise I wouldn't be getting into this exercise. It may take some time."
So far Iraq has said nothing short of lifting the sanctions, imposed in August 1990 when Baghdad's troops invaded Kuwait, would be acceptable. And it has refused to allow weapons inspectors back into the country since December 1998 when Washington and London conducted a four-day bombing raid to punish Iraq for allegedly failing to cooperate with searches for forbidden weapons.
Mr Sahaf, before arriving in New York, said he would provide documents showing his country is free of nuclear, chemical, biological and long-range ballistic weapons. And he said he had no intention of allowing the inspectors to return.
For the United Nations, Mr Annan will have little to negotiate until the Security Council agrees on a common position. Ireland, France, Russia and China all want an immediate suspension of the sanctions, while the US and Britain currently are conducting a review of their policies.