Tuesday, December 15, 1998 Published at 00:16 GMT

World: Americas

UN war warning

Unscom inspectors are due to report on Iraqi cooperation

soon

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan,

has warned of all-out war in Iraq and in Kosovo

next year unless efforts to find political solutions

are intensified.

Mr Annan made the remarks at a

news conference on the activities

of the UN in 1998.

"The best we can say is that in

Kosovo, and in Iraq, all-out war

has been avoided for the time

being. But unless people abide by their

commitments, and unless they redouble their

efforts to find peaceful solutions, we have every

reason to fear the worst in 1999," he said.

He urged both Iraq and the chief UN weapons

inspector, Richard Butler, to tone down their

rhetoric on the dispute over whether Iraq

possesses weapons of mass destruction and

develop a working relationship.

"There should be no rhetoric when we have

serious and hard work to do," he said.

"I do not condone what Iraq has been saying, I just

want them to get on with the job, get on with

disarmament, cooperate with Unscom (UN

Special Commission on Iraqi disarmament) and

get it done."

The secretary-general also warned of the risks to

stability posed by continuing turmoil in world

markets.

Mr Annan spoke of the UN difficulties in tackling

conflicts in Angola, and the Democratic Republic

of Congo. He said Libya was close to making a

decision to surrender the two suspects of the

Lockerbie bombing in Scotland 1988.