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Iraq wants dialogue: UK MP
BAGHDAD:Iraq is seeking a dialogue with the United
Nations on the crisis over arms inspections and its demands
for a lifting of sanctions, a visiting British MP said here on
Monday.
``They want a dialogue, that's what they want. If there is a
real prospect for sanctions to be lifted, they will be ready to
cooperate,'' said Tam Dalyell, who met Iraq's Deputy
Prime Minister Tariq Aziz twice on Sunday.
``I don't think they will step down unless the world does
something about the sanctions'' which have been in force
since Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Dalyell said.
He added that Aziz was in favour of a visit by UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan, who however has said he has no such
plans at present.
In February, the Secretary General visited Baghdad and
struck an 11th-hour accord which averted US-led military
action in a previous crisis over weapons inspections.
On the latest US and British warnings of possible military
action on Iraq, the British MP said that Aziz was resigned.
``Aziz was very fatalistic. He thinks the suffering of his
people was something that should be brought to the
attention of the world,'' said Dalyell, referring to the eight
years of sanctions.
Dalyell is part of a British-Irish parliamentary delegation,
including former Irish prime minister Albert Reynolds.
They are due to meet health minister Umid Medhat
Mubarak before leaving on Monday. (AFP)
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