UN and Iraq hold final talks

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Iraq’s foreign minister were holding the final session of closed-door talks on a positive note today, but it was unclear whether it would result in the return of weapons inspectors.

Yesterday, sidestepping the question of whether a deal was near, Annan merely smiled and said: ‘‘Inshallah’’ - the Arabic word meaning ‘‘God willing’’.

Iraqi foreign minister Naji Sabri used the same word when asked if he got what he wanted out of the first day of the two-day session in Vienna, Austria.

‘‘We exchanged views in a serious and earnest manner,’’ Sabri said.

The hopeful assessments came just a day after cautious diplomats deflected nearly every effort to characterise the talks - or suggest whether a breakthrough was even possible.

The happy mood was a departure from two other rounds held earlier this year, although the reasons behind it weren’t entirely clear.

Iraq had a broad list of subjects it wanted considered before going into talks, while the United Nations was focused largely on the return of the inspectors.

Before agreeing to UN demands, the Iraqis want the United Nations to lift sanctions and address US threats to topple Saddam Hussein.

Under UN Security Council resolutions, sanctions can be lifted only when inspectors certify that Iraq’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been destroyed, along with the long-range missiles that could deliver them.

The security council, and particularly the United States, has accused Iraq of trying to rebuild its banned weapons programmes and of supporting terrorism.

The United States has warned Saddam he faces unspecified consequences if he does not allow the return of the inspectors, who left before the 1998 allied air strikes meant to punish Iraq for blocking inspections.

For its part, the UN nuclear agency declared it was ready to return to go back to work at any time. Jacques Baute, the agency’s team leader for Iraq, said inspectors could be in place by next week if asked.

In another sign of progress, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said that Iraq and the United Nations were close to an agreement on returning Kuwait’s national archives, which were looted during the Gulf War.

Diplomats are working on how to handle the actual handover of the papers - six truckloads of documents Eckhard said were a ‘‘national treasure’’ to the people of Kuwait.

‘‘It takes us in the direction of eventual normalisation,’’ Eckhard said.

Annan alone does not have the ability to resolve the key issues Iraq wants addressed before allowing the inspectors’ return.

Sabri gave Annan a list of 19 political questions at their first meeting - and Iraq is still waiting for answers. The questions focus on lifting sanctions, US threats against Iraq, ‘‘no-fly’’ zones in northern and southern Iraq enforced by US and British aircraft and the creation of a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East.