Iraq 'ready to work with U.N.' September 3, 2002 Posted: 5:57 AM EDT (0957 GMT) Tariq Aziz: Baghdad seeking a solution to Iraq's differences with the U.S. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Detailed Negotiations can start and be completed after the unconditional return of UN WMD inspectors. As Mr Annan repeatedly says, the return of WMD inspectors must be unconditional. I promise to do everything within my powers to ensure/suggest a just settlement of all outstanding issues. May Allah/God blesses Iraq] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz says Baghdad is ready to work with the U.N. to resolve the crisis between Iraq and the U.S. Emerging from a 30-minute meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg, he said: "I told (him) ... if anybody can have a magic solution, so that all these issues are being dealt with together, equitably and reasonably, we are ready to find such a solution and we are ready to co-operate with the United Nations." Aziz repeated an invitation to U.S. politicians to visit Iraq to check for themselves whether it had weapons of mass destruction. "Let them tell us and the world that their concerns are genuine and that they are not using them as a pretext to attack Iraq -- if those concerns are genuine we can find a solution to that," Aziz told reporters. "We invited the Americans themselves, we invited the British to come. If they come for a special mission they are welcome because that is what we want them to do. "But if they send people who will drag their feet for years without reaching a conclusion as they did for seven-and-a-half years, that's not going to work." President George W. Bush has repeatedly said he wants to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, whom he accuses of developing weapons of mass destruction in defiance of the United Nations. But Saddam says the U.S. wants to invade his country in order to take control of the region's oil reserves. Aziz earlier told CNN that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and that Baghdad was willing to prove it to U.S. congressmen by "technically viable" means. "Everybody in the world should know that there are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq," he told CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer. (Full story) Aziz has said previously that Iraq would consider the return of U.N. weapons inspectors as long as it was part of an overall settlement of the differences between Baghdad and Washington. U.N. arms experts left Iraq in December 1998 ahead of a U.S.-British bombing campaign to punish Baghdad for its alleged failure to cooperate with inspectors. Washington accuses Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of seeking weapons of mass destruction and U.S. President George W. Bush has called for a "regime change" in Baghdad, but has insisted no decision has been made on military action. Russia has said it will not support any U.S. military action against Iraq because it would only "complicate" attempts to resolve problems in the Middle East. (Full story) However, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Russia's traditional support for Iraq would end if the nation did not halt its programme to develop weapons of mass destruction -- chemical and biological. Meanwhile, the World Council of Churches has called on the United States to stop threatening military action against Iraq, saying it was alarmed and concerned by Washington's aim of overthrowing the Baghdad government. The Council's central committee issued a statement urging Washington to "desist from any military threats against Iraq." It also called on U.S. allies to resist pressure to join any "pre-emptive military strikes against a sovereign state" under the pretext of the war on terrorism, Reuters reported. Back to the top © 2002 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.