Baghdad asked Thursday the chief U.N. weapons inspectors to return to Iraq for a fresh round of talks.
A senior adviser to President Saddam Hussein wrote to Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, inviting them to return to Baghdad in advance of a key U.N. Security Council session on Feb. 14.
The adviser, Amer Al-Saadi, suggested the talks could focus on improving cooperation between the two sides and on "methods of disarmament verification," the Foreign Ministry said.
Blix and ElBaradei, head of the U.N. nuclear control agency, said they had not received the invitations and would not say whether they would accept.
The proposed visit would come four days ahead of the inspectors' next report to the Security Council on whether Iraq has complied with a council resolution requiring it to allow inspectors to hunt for weapons of mass destruction. (Albawaba.com)
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