www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/896221/posts
In a recent letter to Kofi Annan, UN secretary general, Igor Ivanov, Russia's foreign minister, complained that the government was coming under increasing pressure from the "federal assembly, many social and political interests, and business and industrial circles . Jacques Chirac, France's president, last week made clear his disapproval of the ongoing sanctions. The Russian and French positions are giving Iraq hope that the sanctions, if not lifted, will soon become meaningless. In an interview with the FT, Tariq Aziz, Iraq's deputy prime minister, said the Russian letter proved that Iraq's trading partners were growing increasingly impatient with the embargo. Now that a new inspection agency has been formed but Iraq is refusing to accept the resolution, Security Council splits on policy towards Iraq are becoming more apparent, with the US maintaining a hard line against concessions to Baghdad. He added that once Iraq accepted the resolution, Russia and France likely would "get back on board". The UK, which along with Russia, France, the US and China is one of the permanent members of the Security Council, is trying to salvage the resolution, of which it was a principal author. UK officials in New York have talked to several Arab leaders in the hope of rekindling dialogue with Iraq. But Mr Aziz, who met six of his regional counterparts over the weekend, said that there had been no progress. Mr Aziz, who is in New York after attending the UN's millennium summit, said he had no intention of meeting Hans Blix, the head of the new UN weapons inspections agency. Iraq and members of the Security Council for now seem to be in agreement on at least one substantive issue - to avoid any escalation of hostilities over the stalemate.
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