Annan, Iraq agree on inspections

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Against a backdrop of threatened United States airstrikes, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan reached an agreement with senior Iraqi officials last night that he believes could end the crisis over weapons inspections, his spokesperson said.

After meeting for three hours Sunday afternoon with President Saddam Hussein, Annan and Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz agreed on a deal that would open presidential compounds to inspection by U.N. teams searching for evidence of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, Annan's spokesperson, Fred Eckhard, told reporters. No details of the deal were made available.

The agreement is still subject to U.N. Security Council approval, and Washington has reserved the right to bomb Iraq regardless of what the other council members decide. But after speaking yesterday with senior officials from the five permanent council members - including Secretary of State Madeleine Albright - Annan was confident that all would accept the deal, according to his spokesperson.

Annan, who is scheduled to announce the deal this morning with Aziz, is to leave for New York this afternoon and will present the document tomorrow afternoon to the Security Council. Council members will then decide whether to accept it.

In Washington, U.S. officials, who were briefed only on the broad outlines of the agreement, reacted cautiously.

White House spokesperson Mike McCurry said preliminary accounts had been received from Baghdad, but he refused to assess them. "We've got a lot of serious questions. It's a very serious matter at a serious time, and we want to get some questions answered," he said.

President Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke twice yesterday and agreed that Iraq would be given "no concessions," a Blair spokesperson said. Albright, during a television interview yesterday morning, insisted Saddam "has to back down. ... He has to reverse course."

On grounds of national sovereignty, Iraq has refused to open eight sites to the inspectors on the U.N. weapons commission, known by the initials UNSCOM. Iraq's refusal to cooperate with the inspection program, a legacy of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, has led to a tense confrontation with the Security Council and threats of massive American airstrikes.

"We have reached agreement," Eckhard told reporters camped outside the river-front guest house where Annan is staying.

Annan "feels that this agreement fulfills the two principle objectives he had in coming here - respect for the Security Council resolutions governing the inspection regime in Iraq and the preservation of the integrity of UNSCOM's inspection process," Eckhard said.

"We feel it's very positive. It's positive for Iraq, and it's positive for the region and, in fact, for the world."

Although Eckhard would not discuss details of the agreement, he confirmed that Iraq had dropped its previous demand that any inspections of the presidential compounds be subject to firm time limits.

Britain, America's strongest backer for a military strike, reacted cautiously to reports of a deal, while France, which championed efforts for a diplomatic solution, welcomed it.

Clinton and Blair, in their conversations yesterday, spoke extensively about what will happen this week in the United Nations and agreed that if the Annan mission is unsuccessful, the United States will support a British call for a Security Council resolution warning Iraq that a military strike is imminent, a position that an administration official said Clinton agreed with. If Annan does broker an acceptable deal, the official said, the United States and Britain will push for a resolution codifying its terms, making it harder for Iraq to defy them in the future.

A deal acceptable to Iraq and the United States would be a major diplomatic coup for Annan and a welcome reprieve for Iraq, whose sanctions-weary population is bracing for intensive airstrikes.

The United States has been preparing for possible military action against Iraq since last fall, when Saddam ordered the expulsion of American weapons inspectors in the U.N. commission, accusing them of acting as spies. Americans were readmitted after the intervention of Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov. But the crisis flared anew when Iraq blocked access to the presidential sites, three in Baghdad and five in outlying cities.

Iraq says the presidential sites consist of nothing more sinister than palaces and villas for government officials and their guests. The government also insists it has complied fully with U.N. resolutions mandating destruction of programs to develop nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The U.N. commission has said it suspects Iraq is hiding elements of its weapons programs, possibly in the palace compounds.

Important principles are also at stake. The United States is intent on maintaining inspectors' right to "unfettered access" to suspect facilities. Iraqi officials consider the presidential compounds to be symbols of national sovereignty that should not be subject to snooping by uninvited foreign guests.

Under a compromise plan brokered by Russia and France, Iraq would have agreed to permit the inspectors to visit the compounds, but only in the company of diplomatic escorts and only for a period of 60 days, after which they would not be permitted to return. A U.N. survey team found this month that the sites cover a total area of about 12.6 square miles, suggesting that they are much smaller than the vast complexes described by Clinton and other senior U.S. officials.

The United States and Britain objected to the time limit and the ban on return visits, with the result that they were not included in negotiating guidelines that Annan carried with him to Baghdad.

An administration official said in Washington that Clinton officials had only a sketchy understanding of the Annan talks. While encouraging statements made by Annan's spokesman might be a good sign, this official said, policymakers worry the secretary general might not be insisting on the right of inspectors to make repeat visits to presidential palaces.

U.S. officials appear wary about how Annan will handle the public-relations aspect of his mission. If he declares the talks a success, and wins a French endorsement of a possible agreement during a stop-over in Paris on his return, that could build international momentum for a diplomatic settlement - even if the details are not to Washington's liking. But administration officials said the United States and Britain are prepared to pronounce an Annan-brokered deal unacceptable regardless of what other nations think.

With the United States pouring military forces - a naval armada and 25,000 troops - into the Persian Gulf and Iraq maintaining a hard line in its public statements, an air of high drama has surrounded Annan's visit. After arriving here Friday from Paris, Annan and his aides held several lengthy sessions with senior Iraqi officials led by Aziz, with whom he also met in private. A source close to the discussions at the Iraqi Foreign Ministry described them as "very civilized but also difficult... . There was no table-thumping or raised voices."

After meeting again with Aziz, the two sides narrowed their differences to a single "substantive" issue, according to a U.N. official close to the talks. "The secretary general still hopes it is possible, but it is up to Iraq now," a U.N. official told reporters.

He declined to specify the nature of the disagreement but described it as a potential deal-breaker. It apparently centered on Aziz's insistence that the inspectors complete their work in the presidential sites within the specified 60-day limit.

But, during the past two days, sources said, Russia's Primakov telephoned Aziz at Annan's request to explain that the permanent Security Council members could not accept time limits on inspections.

Annan had been given no assurances of a meeting with Saddam, whose whereabouts are a closely guarded secret. At noon Sunday, however, Annan and three senior aides - Hans Corell, the undersecretary general for legal affairs; Lakhdar Brahimi, an Algerian diplomat and special adviser to Annan; and Rolf Knutsson, the director of Annan's office - were taken to "an undisclosed location."

That turned out to be the Republican Palace, the president's main official residence, where Annan and Saddam met until after 3 p.m. Following that, Eckhard told reporters that Annan believed he was "on the verge of a breakthrough."

He apparently achieved that breakthrough - an Iraqi retreat on the issue of time limits - during his later session with Aziz, which broke up around 10 p.m. Annan has the authority to sign a written agreement spelling out the compromise. Aziz was expected to sign the document either late yesterday or this morning, after which the two planned to hold a news conference.

02-23-98