- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - ``To the bomb shelter'' says a sign in an entrance
hall of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry where U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan
sealed a last-minute deal with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz on
Sunday.
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- The sign, a reminder of threatened U.S.
air strikes, went unnoticed as officials bustled about to prepare for the
signing of the document, agreed after a total of 15 hours of what one U.N.
official described as ``long and tedious'' talks.
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- ``Call the translators and tell them
to be here at 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT),'' one Iraqi official ordered as staff
rearranged chairs and rehearsed seating in the conference room.
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- Staffers were still typing and copying
documents well after midnight to get them ready for Annan and Aziz to sign
on Monday. Adrenalin had run high as it appeared that a deal was in the
making to end the crisis over U.N. weapons inspections and avert the threat
of a U.S.-led military attack on Iraqi targets.
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- In a country where information is tightly
controlled, body language provided the best clue. The two sides agreed
to keep silent about the agreement until Monday, but word swiftly leaked
out.
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- When Annan returned to his guest house
after the talks, reporters shouted a question on whether he had a deal.
He waved but said nothing.
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- As his party disappeared into the building,
one of his spokesman turned towards the cameras, grinned broadly and flashed
a two-fingered victory sign.
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- The breakthrough in the row over access
to ``presidential sites'' for U.N. arms inspectors apparently came earlier
in three hours of talks between Annan and President Saddam Hussein. Scenes
on Iraqi television, showing a relaxed Saddam greeting the U.N. party in
a civilian suit instead of the military fatigues he often favours at critical
moments, were taken as a favourable omen by some Iraqi viewers.
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- ``I knew there would be good news when
I saw the president in his suit on television meeting Kofi Annan. We knew
he was relaxed when we saw him out of uniform,'' one Iraqi journalist said.
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- As the final Annan-Aziz meeting ended,
smiles replaced frowns on the haggard faces of Foreign Ministry officials.
``We're happy, of course we're happy. Thank God for the good news,'' said
one of Aziz's bodyguards with a pistol at his belt. REUTERS
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