Lift sanctions: Iraq's plea to UN

Iraq called on the UN Secretary Council to resist efforts to prevent a lifting of the seven-year old UN economic sanctions on Baghdad.

Iraq's official press made the call ahead of a Security Council meeting last night to respond to Baghdad's refusal to open its president sites to teams from the UN Special Commission (UNSCOM) for disarming Iraq.

US Secretary of Defense William Cohen has called for the Security Council to send a "strong message" to Iraq.

"The influential and fair parties in the Security Council should put an end to this," Al-Jumhuria stated. The Iraqis also called on the Security Council to create a "Mentral" body to collect information for UNSCOM.

The proposal to be discussed at the UN Security Council was described by the Iraqis as "unacceptable and a clear violation of the relevant resolutions."

But the text of the proposal has already been modified to eliminate a reference to "condemnation" of Baghdad, contained in the wording of an earlier version.