Pointing out that he had not been consulted before the air action, Mr. Annan said that after it took place, "the US authorities called to explain to me that they saw this as routine, not escalation, not a quantitative difference, in their activities in Iraq."

"Obviously the timing is a bit awkward for the talks that I am going to have on the 26th [of February] but the Iraqis have confirmed that they are coming so we will be able to pursue our attempts to break the impasse and pull them into cooperate with the UN," he said.

Asked if he was optimistic, the Secretary-General replied: "You have to have some hope, otherwise I wouldn't be getting into this exercise." Noting that progress could take time, he stressed the need for realistic expectations. "I don't think we are going to have a miraculous breakthrough but at least it is a beginning," he said.

Meanwhile, in a letter to the Secretary-General released today, Iraq's Foreign Minister, Mohamed Al-Sahaf, calls for condemnation of last Friday's "act of aggression" by the United States and the United Kingdom. Noting that it took place "at a time when we are preparing for comprehensive dialogue with you," Mr. Al-Sahaf calls for urgent and concrete steps to prevent its recurrence.