Iraqi foreign minister meets UN official

Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri on Tuesday met Head of UNIKOM Gen. Mivel Morneo and affirmed that Iraq would continue cooperating with UNIKOM. "He stressed the necessity to achieve all its tasks by monitoring and informing about violations which were perpetrated by the US and British warplanes in the demilitarized zone and over Iraqi territories," INA reported today.

For his part, the head of UNIKOM praised Iraqi Foreign Ministry and other Iraqi authorities which cooperate with the mission, INA said.

The United Nations announced yesterday that the next round of talks between United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and senior Iraqi officials will be held at UN Headquarters in New York on May 1..

UN Spokesman Fred Eckhard said the Secretary-General's delegation would include Hans Blix, the Executive Chairman of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and Mohammed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The Iraqi delegation will be headed by Foreign Minister Naji Sabri.

"The objective is for Iraq to come into full compliance with Security Council resolutions which specifically - and probably first and foremost as far as these talks are concerned - means allowing UN inspectors to go back to Iraq to finish the verification of disarmament in terms of weapons of mass destruction," said Mr. Eckhard.

Iraq is seeking the lifting of the UN sanctions, and ending the continued US and UK attacks against Iraq's territories, and the implementation of paragraph 14 of resolution 687 and eliminating weapons of mass destruction from the Middle East.