Baghdad studies French and Russian ideas on lifting sanctions

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the UN Security Council has to restore its unity concerning its position toward Iraq in eliminating weapons and alleviate the sufferings of the Iraqi people.

Annan noted the need to avoid partitions inside the UN Security Council to enable it to fulfill its obligations.

The spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that his country backs the French and Russian proposals on settling the crisis relating to the disputes over monitoring the elimination of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

The Chinese spokesman added that France and Russia had serious proposals to settle the Iraqi crisis. "We support all proposals aimed at solving the Iraqi crisis within the context of honoring UN Security Council resolutions," he added. In another development, a diplomatic source in Baghdad said Iraqi is not in a hurry to reply to the French and Russian ideas, preferring to await the results of consultations at the UN and between the Arab leaders.

A Western diplomat, who asked not to be identified, said the Iraqi leaders are keeping their final answer until after the Eid al-Fitr vacation. The diplomat added that debates on the French ideas and the Russian proposals will be resumed at the UN during the coming days.

Iraqi officials have officially studied the French ideas and the Russian proposals which concentrate on both lifting the oil embargo imposed on Iraq and resorting to a new monitoring system for armaments in Iraq.