Annan Asks Iraq to Clarify Arms Talk Overture

Speaking to reporters following a Monday afternoon briefing with the U.N. Security Council, Annan said he was not rejecting the Iraqi offer but added, “We would want to discuss with them the return of the inspectors. If Iraq is open to that idea, there are practical means to send the inspectors back.”

Faced with the threat of a possible U.S. invasion, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri sent a letter to Annan last Thursday, inviting chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix to meet in Baghdad and begin technical talks on issues surrounding Iraq’s dangerous weapons.

Annan said he plans to send a letter to Iraq outlining the conditions that could allow Blix and his team to explore new talks.

A 1999 U.N. Security Council resolution requires Iraq to allow a full team of weapons inspectors at least 60 days on the ground to investigate what has happened since their last access in December 1998. Iraq’s refusal to grant full access to weapons inspectors is a key platform for severe U.N. economic sanctions imposed after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990.

According to Reuters, Blix has said he would only discuss “practical issues” with Iraq if weapons inspectors were not allowed the access outlined in the Security Council resolution.

Earlier Monday, Annan expressed concern that if Blix did go to Baghdad, his program, “may not entirely coincide with what the Iraqis have in mind.”

In a separate development, the White House rejected Monday’s offer from Iraq’s Parliament Speaker Saadoun Hammadi to provide a U.S. congressional delegation full access to any site in Iraq suspected of being used to develop weapons of mass destruction.

In a four page letter, Hammadi invited a delegation composed of “whatever number of congressmen you see fit” to visit suspected sites of weapons development as well as ” be accompanied by experts in the field you deem relevant to the purpose of the visit, i.e. chemical, biological and nuclear.”

White House National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack dismissed the invitation, telling reporters, “There’s no need for discussion. What there is a need for is the regime in Baghdad to live up to its commitment to disarm.”

McCormack went on to acknowledge that the Bush administration could not prevent individual members of Congress from accepting the Iraqi offer.

But leading Democrat Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also dismissed the invitation saying in a statement, “If it [Iraq] has nothing to hide, it should comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions and allow immediate, unfettered access to U.N. weapons inspectors — which it has refused to do for nearly four years.”