Aziz: UN sanctions on Iraq prove to be a failure

Iraqi Deputy Premier Tariq Aziz said on Sunday that the UN sanctions imposed on Iraq for eight years will be lifted after they are proved futile.

During his meeting with the Bulgarian premier, visiting Iraq in Baghdad on Sunday, Aziz asserted the US position towards Iraq is in its weakest state, adding that the sanctions will be lifted after proving to be a failure.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had proposed to make a general revision at the UN Security council for the relations between the UN and Iraq, on the basis of stages and a set timetable for lifting the sanctions but on the conditions that Baghdad resume cooperation with UN weapons inspectors. The US expressed reservations over the UN proposal.

Last August, Baghdad suspended cooperation with UNSCOM and the International Atomic Energy Agency and accused them of refraining from admitting Iraq's achievements in dismantling its banned weapons in order to perpetuate the UN sanctions imposed on the Iraqi people.