Secretary-General Kofi Annan told U.N. Security Council members and a television interviewer on Tuesday he did not plan to hold further talks with Iraq until Baghdad showed some willingness to allow U.N. arms inspectors back into the country.
Some council diplomats at the monthly luncheon with the secretary-general reported that Annan, however, emphasized that the channel for a dialogue should not be closed following the third round of unsuccessful talks with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri in Vienna on July 5-6.
Meanwhile, one Iraqi civilian was killed and 22 others injured when US and British warplanes bombed southern Iraq late Monday and early Tuesday, an Iraqi military spokesman said.
The spokesman was quoted by the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) as saying US and British planes bombed the southern provinces of Wassit and Qadisiya, killing one Iraqi and wounding 22 more. Wassit and Qadisiya are within the so-called southern no-fly zone.
A total of 11 sites were targeted by the "enemy planes" in two waves of air raids launched Monday at 9:25 pm (1725 GMT) and Tuesday at 5:30 am (0130 GMT), the Iraqi military added.
It was during the raid early Tuesday that the civilians were hit, according to state television station, which aired footage of rescue operations and houses destroyed by the strikes. "Missile and anti-aircraft units fired at the enemy planes, causing them to flee to their bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait," the report said. (Albawaba.com)
