BRIEFING BY FRED ECKHARD
SPOKESMAN

UNITED NATIONS
OFFICE OF THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

June 27, 2002

Excerpts

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** Iraq Delegation

Finally, there was a question yesterday.  Mohammed asked me about the composition of the Secretary-General's delegation to the Iraq talks in Vienna next week.  We did send an official list to the Iraqis the day before yesterday.  There are, in addition to the Secretary-General, four senior officials plus support staff.  The four senior officials are Hans Blix, Executive Chairman of UNMOVIC; Mohammed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency; Yuli Vorontsov, High Level Coordinator on Iraq.  And the last one that I have not mentioned so far is Hans Corell, the Legal Counsel.  So those are the four principals, and then each of those people of course has experts and other support staff.

That is all I have for you.  Oh, and then the bottom of that story is that we have not yet received from the Iraqis their delegation list.  Yes.  Irwin?

** Questions and Answers

Question: Does the inclusion of Yuli Vorontsov mean that the topic of missing Kuwaiti people and property has been added to the agenda of the talks?

Spokesman:  There was at the last round of talks an announcement by the Iraqis that they had a certain amount, a substantial amount, of the Kuwaiti archives that they had discovered and were willing to return to Kuwait.  So at that time, the Secretary-General said we will discuss the mechanism for doing that.  At this meeting, that mechanism is expected to be finalized.  Missing persons is also within Mr. Vorontsov's remit, but whether it will come up or not, we can't say.  But we would of course be prepared to discuss that should the Iraqis wish to discuss it.

Question: Is the Secretary-General concerned that this might cause the possibility of diversion from the task of concentrating on the return of inspectors?

Spokesman: At the end of the last round he saw this announcement on the archives as a step forward, something that can improve the climate in which these talks are taking place.  So I think he sees it as a positive sign as opposed to a diversion.

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Question: Apparently the Secretary-General, in his message to OIC Foreign Ministers, spoke of lifting the embargo against Iraq in the near future.  When would this near future be?

Spokesman:  That is dependent on the full implementation of the Security Council resolutions relating to Iraq.  So the Council has laid out the path for the lifting of sanctions and that is the path that the Secretary-General is asking Iraq to take.  How long it will take to get down that path is anyone's guess.

Question: Will the issue of pricing mechanisms and the oil-for-food programme be on the table of discussion?

Spokesman:  As far as I know, it is not our intention in this session to get into those issues.  Thank you, Irwin.

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