PRESS RELEASE

On Outcome of Talks Held in Baghdad by UNMOVIC Executive Chairman Hans Blix, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei and Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Yuly Vorontsov

RUSSIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

January 21, 2003

Hans Blix, the Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC, and Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA Director General, stayed in Baghdad on January 19-20. The main outcome of their stay in the Iraqi capital and talks, both at the political and at experts' levels, is the adoption of an agreed statement on improving cooperation between UNMOVIC and IAEA, and Iraq.

Apart from the ways outlined by the sides for solving a number of important questions, linked to the carrying out of the inspection and monitoring activity of UNMOVIC and IAEA on the territory of Iraq, the statement contains Baghdad's commitments to hand over additional documents on its WMD programs, supplement the list of persons involved in their development, and encourage Iraqi specialists to be interviewed by inspectors in private without the presence of government representatives. We consider as a substantial important point the readiness declared by the Iraqis to supplement national legislation with a ban on participation by citizens of Iraq in WMD production.

Moscow welcomes the outcome of the talks in Baghdad, which has again confirmed Iraq's firm commitment to continue its constructive cooperation with the international inspectors. That outcome also attests to the ongoing progress in the work of the experts of UNMOVIC and IAEA in Iraq and again convincingly demonstrates the significant potential of politico-diplomatic means for resolving the situation around Iraq.

Another positive aspect is the conversations held in Baghdad on January 17-19 of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General, Yuly Vorontsov, dedicated to discussing the fate of the Kuwaitis and Iraqis who went missing in the course of the events of 1990-1991, as well as to the return of Kuwaiti property. Continuing the dialogue on these humanitarian issues, undoubtedly, will constitute a factor of no small importance in improving the situation in the Persian Gulf zone.