Index
Annan says talks with Iraqi officials, expected this week, will be delayed
8 January – Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that talks scheduled this week with officials from the Iraqi Government would likely be delayed until next month.

In remarks to reporters at United Nations Headquarters in New York, Mr. Annan said the Baghdad delegation was "not coming this week, and I'll be travelling very shortly, so I would expect the meeting would not take place" until next month.

Asked about Iraq's motives, Mr. Annan said, "We haven't really been engaged in that sense. What I have offered is a date, or suggestion of a timeframe within which we could meet. I'm expecting them to react."

The talks are aimed at breaking a stalemate over UN weapons inspections in Iraq, which broke off in December 1998.