IRAQ AGREES TO UNCONDITIONAL RETURN OF UN WEAPONS INSPECTORS - ANNAN

["Mazine Kessaissia" <mazine.kessaissia@mail.utexas.edu>]

Now that Iraq agrees to unconditional return of UN weapons inspectors, let's
follow the news and discover whether the Bush's administration is really
seeking a disarmament of Iraq or rather seeking a US military presence in
Iraq, which will allow them control the oil reserves of the whole region,
and reduce step-by-step their high dependance on Saudi Arabia's oil
supply...


New York, Sep 16 2002  8:00PM
Iraq has agreed to allow United Nations weapons inspectors back into the
country without any conditions, Secretary-General Kofi Annan
<"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=307";>announced Monday evening
at UN Headquarters in New York.

The announcement came after he met earlier in the day with Iraqi Foreign
Minister Naji Sabri and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab Nations,
Amre Moussa.

Speaking to reporters, the Secretary-General said he believed that US
President George W. Bush's speech last week at the UN had "galvanized" the
international community. "As most of you heard, almost every speaker in the
General Assembly urged Iraq to accept the return of the inspectors," he
said.

The Secretary-General said Baghdad's decision had been conveyed to him in a
letter from the Iraqi authorities, which he has forwarded to the President
of the Security Council.

"[The Council] will have to decide what they do next," he said, adding that
Hans Blix, chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection
Commission (UNMOVIC), and his team would be ready to continue their work.

Mr. Annan paid particular tribute to all the Member States, and to the Arab
League, that played a key role, and thanked Mr. Moussa "for his strenuous
efforts in helping to convince Iraq to allow the return of the inspectors."