Iraq: Annan transmits letter on weapons inspections to Security Council

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has conveyed to the Security Council a letter reflecting the outcome of talks held last week in Vienna between senior UN weapons inspectors and officials from Baghdad.

Writing to the President of the Security Council, Mr. Annan transmitted the text of a letter from Hans Blix, the Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), and Mohammed ElBaradei, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to Iraqi Presidential Advisor Amir Al-Saadi.

All three participated in the Vienna talks, which were held on 30 September and 1 October to hammer out practical arrangements for the return to Iraq of UN weapons inspectors, who have been unable to operate in the country since December, 1998.

"We have been informed by UNMOVIC that the letter from Blix and ElBaradei lists all the conclusions reached at Vienna, including agreement on immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access to sites in Iraq, including what had been termed 'sensitive sites' in the past," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

The document is expected to be made public in the coming days, according to UN officials.