Annan heads to Vienna for latest round of talks with Iraqi officials

Secretary-General Kofi Annan will leave this afternoon for Vienna, where the next round of talks between the United Nations and Iraq are set to begin on Thursday, a UN spokesman said today.

"The Secretary-General's emphasis [in previous rounds of talks with senior Iraqi officials] has been on the return of UN inspectors to the country," spokesman Fred Eckhard told a press briefing in New York.

After two days of talks with Iraqi officials in the Austrian capital, the Secretary-General is scheduled to head to Durban, South Africa, where he will attend the Summit of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on 8 and 9 July, Mr. Eckhard added.