U.N.-Iraq Divisions Only Deepen in Baghdad Talks

Talks in Baghdad aimed at breaking the deadlock over U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq began Monday with both sides nailing down long-standing--and mutually incompatible--bargaining positions.

Richard Butler, the Australian disarmament expert who heads the U.N. inspection program, rejected an ultimatum issued Saturday by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein demanding a deadline for completion of the inspection process.

Meanwhile, a crowd of demonstrators estimated at 1,500 to 5,000 protested outside U.N. offices in the Iraqi capital. The government-sanctioned protest demanded an end to economic sanctions against Iraq and featured demonstrators burning American flags and carrying coffins representing children who allegedly died as a result of the sanctions.

U.N. and American officials have termed the talks crucial in the latest confrontation between Iraq and the West, which has flared intermittently since October.

The weapons inspections, agreed to by Iraq after its defeat in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, are intended to ensure that Hussein’s government has given up its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and its long-range missiles.

Butler’s team must certify that Iraq no longer has such weapons capacity before the sanctions can be lifted by the U.N. Security Council. That assurance has not been forthcoming because the inspectors believe that Iraq may still be secretly conducting illegal weapons research.

Iraq contends that it has destroyed all its proscribed weapons and that the inspections are a cover for United States espionage.

Butler met for three hours Monday night with Tarik Aziz, Iraq’s deputy prime minister, according to officials at the U.N. Negotiations are schedule to conclude today.

Before the meeting, Butler repeated that the inspectors must be permitted to visit and investigate anyplace in the country, including Hussein’s palaces and other “presidential sites” placed off limits by the Iraqi government.

“There is a concealment program in this country,” Butler told reporters. “We’ve got to get rid of those weapons. Then the whole situation is going to get a whole lot healthier. The last lap of this race maybe is the hardest. But we’ve got to run it. Otherwise, Lord knows what will happen.”

Butler also signaled that he may change the composition of some inspection teams in response to Iraqi concerns that they include too many American and British experts. The U.S. and Britain did much of the fighting against Iraq in the Gulf War and remain its most implacable foes on the Security Council.

He recently accepted three Chinese inspectors and has a list of 60 Russians offered by Moscow as candidates. The French also are recruiting prospects. China, Russia and France are the three members of the Security Council considered most sympathetic to Iraq.