- BAGHDAD, Feb 23 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday
he had concluded an agreement with Iraq on the dispute over weapons inspections
and he hoped the deal would be acceptable to members of the Security Council.
-
- ``In my view, the terms of this agreement,
which have been concluded in writing, are acceptable and remove a major
obstacle to the full implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions.
-
- ``I will so report to the Security Council
immediately upon my return to New York on Tuesday...I hope it will be acceptable
to all members of the Council,'' he said at a news conference in Baghdad
with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz.
-
- Annan said there were ``no time limits
or deadlines'' in the agreement, but added: ``I think it is important that
we do our work in a reasonable period.''
-
- They declined to give details of the
agreement. The two men minutes earlier had signed the accord, which could
defuse the long-running crisis that led to a big U.S. and British military
buildup in the Gulf.
-
- Aziz turned away suggestions that the
buildup had prompted Iraq to enter into the agreement.
-
- ``What helped in reaching this agreement...is
the goodwill that he (Annan) brought with him -- not the American or the
British buildup in the Gulf and not the policy of sabre-rattling,'' Aziz
said.
-
- ``It was diplomacy...that enabled us
to reach this agreement,'' he added.
-
- Aziz said in Arabic: ``This is a great
gain.'' ``In fact, there was no crisis between Iraq and the U.N....the
crisis was with the U.S., which is trying to impose its will on the U.N.,''
Aziz said, returning to English.
-
- Annan said he hoped the agreement would
mean that such crises would not be repeated. ``I genuinely believe that
if we cooperate and do the kinds of things that we have agreed to do, we
will not see that kind of crisis.''
|