Talks between Iraq and the UN postponed

A spokesman for the UN said that high ranking talks between the UN and Iraq aiming at ending a bottleneck concerning the stumbled inspection operation for Iraqi weapons was postponed until February.

The spokesman added that Iraq has not yet replied to a request raised by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan for a flexible schedule for the talks, which means it is not sure that talks between the two sides will be held in the period between January 8 and 14 before Annan leaves New York to start his tour.

Worthy mentioning Iraq refused the return back of the inspectors to Baghdad since December 1998 when they left Iraq on the wake of US ­ British air bombardment launched under claims that Baghdad has not cooperating with the UN experts who are in charge of disarming Iraq from mass- destruction weapons.