An Iraqi overture to the UN opens a chink for diplomacy that could delay US plans for a war to topple President Saddam Hussein, or at least complicate Washington's search for international support.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri requested early technical talks with chief UN inspector Hans Blix to "establish a solid basis for the next stage of monitoring and inspection activities and to move forward to that stage."
Blix is the executive chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, known as UNMOVIC.
UN and several European diplomats welcomed Iraq's hint that it might readmit UN teams to check for banned weapons programs for the first time since 1998.
But Britain, Washington's closest military ally, suggested that Iraq had no plans to give the inspectors unfettered access. "Saddam has a long history of playing games. As his track record shows, he does not deliver," a Foreign Office spokesman said.
Diplomats in Europe said it might be hard for the US to prevent the UN Security Council from authorizing Blix to go to Baghdad and explore the Iraqi offer.
"The Americans are being told by their allies, including Britain, that we have to give the inspectors and diplomacy a last chance before going to war. They can't be seen to be blocking diplomatic efforts," one diplomat said.
Hawks in Washington, where US President George W. Bush on Thursday reaffirmed his administration's commitment to "regime change" in Baghdad, are likely to smell what they regard as familiar Iraqi tactics of duplicity and procrastination.
Russia, a determined opponent of military action against Iraq, welcomed Baghdad's invitation to Blix.
"Moscow considers Iraq's proposal to be an important step towards solving the present problems through diplomatic and political means in line with the existing UN Security Council resolutions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, reflecting European concerns about the risks posed by a new war on Iraq, urged Sabri in Brussels last week to accept the return of UN inspectors.
"This is going in the right direction, and certainly in the direction that minister Michel asked of the Iraqi foreign minister," Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesman Patrick Herman said yesterday when asked about Iraq's invitation to Blix.
In Italy, a political source guardedly welcomed Iraq's move as "a signal that could have positive repercussions."
Ahmed Fawzi, director of the UN Information Center in London, said the Iraqi initiative, if serious, was a "positive development" to which Annan would respond soon.
"I think the Security Council will welcome such a move and support the secretary-general's decision whatever it is. Any credible diplomatic move to avert war should be explored," he said, but added: "If it's just another delaying tactic, I don't think the international community will accept that."
Annan said after a third failed round of talks with Sabri in Vienna on July 4 to July 5 that Iraq must show willingness to admit the monitors before he would discuss the topic with him again.
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