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The Standoff with Iraq

Annan, Iraq sign weapons-inspection deal

Annan (left) and Aziz at Baghdad news conference

February 23, 1998
Web posted at: 3:00 a.m. EST (0800 GMT)

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Iraq signed a breakthrough deal Monday that allows U.N. arms monitors full access to suspected Iraqi weapon sites, including the presidential palaces that have been at the heart of the four-month standoff.

"We have a good agreement," Annan said shortly before signing the deal. "It was quite difficult in the sense the positions have been entrenched so long."

"(Iraq's) sense is that the sanctions have gone on long enough and that whatever they do does not seem to be enough -- and that we keep asking for more and more and more and more without giving them any credit ... for the progress they make."

Annan said he believed the agreement was balanced for every party involved and that it would be accepted by the Security Council.

Asked if believed Iraq would follow the terms of the agreement, Annan said simply: "I don't think we are going to be going through this repeated crisis."

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