U.N. officials urge Iraq to come around on key issue of weapons

VIENNA, Austria -- Emerging from four hours of closed talks, U.N. officials and Saddam Hussein's representatives said Thursday that they had made some progress toward returning U.N. weapons inspectors to Iraq.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared he was "satisfied" with the session. But he sidestepped the question of whether a deal was near that would let inspectors back in Iraq for the first time in 3 1/2 years.

Pressed to make a prediction, Annan merely grinned and said "Inshallah," the Arabic word meaning "God willing."

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri used the same word when asked if he got what he wanted out of the first day of a two-day session at the U.N. offices in Vienna. But he, too, appeared cheerful about the session.

The hopeful assessments came just a day after diplomats deflected nearly every effort to get them to characterize the talks -- or suggest whether a breakthrough was even possible.

It wasn't immediately clear why there were smiles all around. Iraq had a broad list of subjects it wanted considered before going into talks, while the United Nations appeared focused largely on the return of its inspectors.

The Iraqi regime wants the United Nations to lift sanctions and address U.S. threats to topple Saddam before agreeing to U.N. demands.

Under U.N. Security Council resolutions, sanctions can be lifted only when inspectors certify that Iraq's programs to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been destroyed, along with long-range missiles that can deliver such arms.

The Security Council, and particularly the United States, has accused Iraq of trying to rebuild its banned weapons programs and of supporting terrorism.

The Vienna-based U.N. nuclear agency reiterated it was ready to return to the inspection task at any time. Jacques Baute, the agency's team leader for Iraq, said inspectors could move into the country within a few days of a decision.

In another sign of progress, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Iraq and the United Nations were close to agreement on returning Kuwait's national archives, which were looted during the 1991 Gulf War.

Describing the deal as significant, Eckhard said that "it takes us in the direction of eventual normalization." The diplomats are working on how to handle the actual handover of the six truckloads of papers.

The two-day meeting is the third since early March between Annan and Sabri. After the last session in May, Annan reported progress.

Obstacles remain, however. Part of the problem is that Annan alone doesn't have the power to resolve the key issues Iraq wants addressed before allowing the return of inspectors, who left in 1998 ahead of allied airstrikes meant to punish Iraq for blocking inspections.

Sabri gave Annan a list of 19 political questions at their first meeting -- and Iraq is still waiting for answers. The questions focus on lifting sanctions, U.S. threats against Iraq and the "no-fly" zones over northern and southern Iraq enforced by U.S. and British aircraft.

Annan sent Sabri's questions to the Security Council, which imposed sanctions on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix answered the technical questions about inspections at the second round of talks, but the council decided not to respond to the political questions.