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S P E C I A L: The Standoff with Iraq Annan strikes deal with Iraq
Annan and Hussein
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CNN's Christiane Amanpour reports from Baghdad shortly after the U.N.-Iraqi deal is reached Sunday.
Agreement includes full weapons compliance, U.N. spokesman says
Latest developments:February 22, 1998
- Signing ceremony set for Monday morning
- Deal reached during meeting with Hussein
- No time limits on inspections
- Britain: Sanctions could be lifted soon
- Related stories and sites
Web posted at: 9:04 p.m. EST (0204 GMT)BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) --U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan negotiated a written agreement with Iraq on Sunday to provide full access for U.N. weapons inspectors to suspected Iraqi weapon sites, a U.N. spokesman said Sunday.
The deal, if it meets U.S. approval, would head off threatened U.S.-led military strikes.
Annan and Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz were scheduled to sign the deal Monday morning, and they planned a news conference at 10:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. EST). Annan will present the deal Tuesday to the Security Council.
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said the agreement respects the U.N. resolutions concerning Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and preserves the integrity of the U.N. weapons inspection program.
The deal would allow U.N. inspectors to visit presidential sites -- without time limitations -- that Iraq had previously barred to inspectors.
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Eckhard speaks on the agreement
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Deal reached during meeting with Hussein
"We've reached an agreement. We have a text," Eckhard said. "We expect the text will be acceptable to all 15 members of the Security Council," including the United States, he said.
Eckhard declined to go into details about the deal, saying the Security Council needed to be briefed before more information could be released.
Annan and Aziz met late Sunday to agree on the precise wording of the text for the secretary-general to present to the Security Council.
The agreement came during a three-hour meeting Sunday between Annan and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein at the Republican Palace, one of eight presidential sites the Iraqi leader had declared off-limits to U.N. weapons inspectors.
Annan met with Hussein after talks with Aziz reportedly resolved all but one major obstacle -- Iraq's demand for a time limit on inspections of presidential compounds.
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No time limits on inspections
Eckhard said the written agreement didn't include time limits on U.N. weapons inspections.
The United States and Britain had strenuously opposed any time limitations.
Any deal must be endorsed by the United States, which has said it would refuse an agreement that it believes undermines the inspectors' authority.
The weapons inspections crisis has led the Persian Gulf region to the brink of war. The United States sent a large military force to the region to lead air strikes unless Iraq agreed to open all sites, including the eight presidential palaces, to U.N. weapons inspectors.
The U.N. inspectors are trying to determine whether Iraq has met the terms of U.N. resolutions issued at the end of the 1991 Persian Gulf War that call for Iraq to destroy all long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction.
Hussein That condition must be met before U.N. economic sanctions can be lifted.
Britain: Sanctions could be lifted soon
Earlier Sunday, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said in London that the United Nations could consider lifting the sanctions if Hussein gave Annan a written promise to comply with the inspections.
"If he really is willing this time to cooperate and not continue to deceive and delay, (lifting the sanctions) could be done in the fairly near future" Cook said on British Broadcasting Corp. radio. "We have to offer Saddam incentives as well as penalties."
Speaking on condition of anonymity, U.N. officials said all other issues had been settled during talks, which began after Annan arrived Friday in a visit seen as a last-ditch attempt to resolve the crisis peacefully.
Annan Previous sticking points had included the composition of teams that would inspect the sites. France and Russia have proposed that diplomats accompany inspectors from the U.N. Special Commission, which is in charge of the inspections.
Television footage showed Annan greeting Hussein, who was dressed in a dark, double-breasted suit, and Aziz, who wore a military uniform.
Annan and his eight-member team negotiated with Iraqi officials on Saturday in a series of meetings that ended at 2 a.m. The talks resumed later Sunday morning at the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. After that, Annan met Hussein.
Iraq has maintained that granting such access to the homes of the president trample on the nation's dignity and sovereignty.
Iraq also claims it has dismantled all of the proscribed weapons programs.
Correspondent Christiane Amanpour and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Iraq Standoff Main | Latest Stories | Message Board
Related stories:
- Albright: Hussein 'has to back down' - February 22, 1998
- Annan, Hussein begin crucial talks - February 21, 1998
- Protesters around world oppose military action in Iraq - February 21, 1998
- Aboard the USS Normandy - February 21, 1998
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