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To: NucTrader who wrote (28014)	8/19/1998 8:50:00 PM
From: Captain James T. Kirk	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 95453

More time to hide their weapons, GIVE ME BREAK !!:Wednesday August 19 12:41 PM EDT Envoy: UN-Iraq Not at Crisis Point WAIEL FALEH Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A U.N. envoy left Baghdad today saying Iraq-U.N. relations had not reached a crisis despite his failure to persuade the government to allow resumption of weapons inspections. ''I still think that a lot of discussion, negotiations and bilateral talks can take place,'' Prakash Shah, the envoy to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said before leaving for New York. Shah's departure came a day after he announced he had failed to persuade Iraqi officials to back down from the decision earlier this month to cut off relations with the inspectors charged with finding Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Iraq said it refused cooperation because the inspectors were not really working toward lifting U.N. sanctions on Iraq that prevent the free export of oil, its most valuable commodity. Under U.N. resolutions, the inspectors must declare Iraq has eliminated its lethal weapons before the sanctions, imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait, can be canceled. Shah was to arrive Thursday in New York and would later brief Annan on his talks with Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz. Before leaving today, Shah said he still hoped a solution could be found to allow resumption of inspections. ''I will not say it is a crisis,'' he said. ''I think and I hope that the Security Council and Iraq would be able to work this out.'' Shah described his talks with Aziz as ''friendly and cordial'' and said he was ready to return for further negotiations with the Iraqis. ''If the council wishes further discussions, I will be prepared,'' he said. Shah arrived last Thursday with a message from Annan to Aziz about the latest standoff. Annan, meanwhile, has spoken to Iraqi authorities about the impasse and has met with the Security Council to discuss the problem, a spokesman said today. Fred Eckhard didn't give details about Annan's phone calls with Baghdad, but word of his involvement comes as some members of the council have asked for the U.N. chief's personal intervention in the standoff. Eckhard had said Tuesday that Annan was willing to discuss with the council a possible role for himself after his envoy's failed attempt to persuade Baghdad to resume cooperation with weapons inspectors. Neither Annan nor the Security Council appeared to be in a hurry to take this next step, however. After Iraq cut off relations with the inspectors, the U.N. Security Council declared the move unacceptable. On Tuesday, the council sent letters to the U.N. agencies in charge of weapons and nuclear inspections backing their mandates to carry out their work but giving no guidance on how to deal with Iraq's defiance. When asked why the council hadn't threatened Iraq with ultimatums, such as threats of military action, the council president, Danilo Turk of Slovenia, said the time wasn't right for that strong a message. ''I don't think that anyone in the council has suggested that we have reached a point at which consideration of severest consequences would be necessary,'' he said. Annan has approved of the council's low-key strategy so far, Eckhard said.