ARAB-US RELATIONS - Apr. 18 - State Department Rejects Talks With Iraq.

The US State Department rejects an offer to open talks with Baghdad, with an official saying the US is not interested "in any dialogue with Iraq". Iraqi Vice Pres. Taha Yassin Ramadan is quoted earlier in the day by 'INA' as saying that Baghdad was ready to start dialogue with Washington provided it is "with mutual bilateral interests and not a dialogue between master and slave". A State Department official says the US has made clear that the Iraqis need to comply with UN Security Council resolutions, and that is "not an issue to be discussed". This official says it is the US assessment that as long as Iraqi Pres. Saddam Hussein is in power, it is unlikely "Iraq will be able to return to the international community as a responsible member". The official says that the Iraqis haven't been as "explicit" about a dialogue with the US before and that there are a variety of explanations for the shift. This official says one of those reasons might be to "sow dissension in the international coalition by trying to appear conciliatory". The official says the Iraqis are "trying to put the US on the defensive". (UN sanctions were imposed on Baghdad after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. A resolution passed by the Security Council in December could lead to UN weapons inspectors being sent back to Iraq and a lifting of sanctions for renewable periods if Baghdad co-operates with the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission [UNMVIC].)