Iraq said it would not accept any new conditions on the activities of UN arms inspectors. A government spokesman said Baghdad rejects additional conditions following "press reports that US officials are trying to get the Security Council to issue new, bad resolutions."
"Iraq will not deal with any new resolution that would run counter to what was agreed upon with the UN secretary general," he said, speaking after President Saddam Hussein chaired a leadership meeting.
The spokesman, quoted by the official INA news agency, did not spell out Saturday what Iraq considered had been agreed with the UN chief.
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said UN weapons inspectors could return to Iraq by early October following negotiations between Baghdad and the United Nations due to take place in Vienna later this month.
"These negotiations in Vienna will only last a few days and and from the start of October we can expect to see the first groups of international inspectors in Iraq," Ivanov said during a visit to Lisbon.
"It is not a question of if (the inspectors) can or cannot return to Iraq, but how many and what sites (they can visit)," Ivanov said, adding however that the final decision on the date of their return rested with the UN Security Council, AFP reported. (Albawaba.com)
