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To: Jeffery E. Forrest who wrote (12289)	2/2/1998 8:12:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 22053

Iraq says still trying diplomacy United Press International - February 02, 1998 19:38 %INTERNATIONAL %IRAQ %UN V%UPI P%UPI By WILLIAM M. REILLY UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 2 (UPI) - Early reports of a relaxation in Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's hard line against U.N. arms inspectors died quickly after being shot down in Washington, in Baghdad and at U.N. Headquarters. A Russian news agency indicated today Saddam may have blinked under the diplomatic blitz President Bill Clinton has been conducting with European leaders through personal telephone calls to world leaders and via U.S. envoys dispatched to foreign capitals. Itar-Tass said Saddam had agreed to allow arms inspectors into eight presidential sites, but they would have to enter as representatives of Security Council member nations, not as arms inspectors. Soon afterward, a White House official said Russian President Boris Yeltsin told President Clinton in a telephone call that Iraq's Saddam Hussein may be getting more flexible. But Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Riyad Al Quaisi told a news conference in Baghdad the reports were wrong. He did say ''ideas are being exchanged'' and discussions are under way ''to find a diplomatic and a political solution to the crisis.'' He also said Baghdad is awaiting a session with a French envoy and, on Wednesday, a visit from the Secretary General of the Arab League. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, nearing the end of her shuttle diplomacy tour, said in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, that diplomatic options are being exhausted. A senior aide to Albright said Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov had presented the eight-sites offer to her in Madrid. The Iraqis had not even agreed to it at that time, and Albright deemed the offer unacceptable in any case. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Hussein ''has to allow free and unfettered access'' to sites the Special Commission on disarmament seeks to investigate. He said, ''I don't think the objective is to have the president decide'' which sites are available for inspection. Earlier, Annan briefed the Security Council on his proposals for revamping the so-called oil-for-food program, increasing it from $2.1 billion to $5.2 billion worth of oil sales every six months. He warned Iraq not to regard the package as a ''carrot'' and said it was independent of diplomacy. He told the Council, ''The Iraqi leadership must understand that if they want sanctions to be ended - if they want to see light at the end of the tunnel - Iraq must comply fully. It is my sincere hope that diplomatic efforts to this end will succeed.'' Annan added, ''Failure risks another round of devastating military action, which might have unpredictable consequences.'' -- Copyright 1998 by United Press International. All rights reserved. --