(23 Feb 1998) Natural Sound
U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived in Paris on Monday night where he was to stop over before returning to New York where he will present details of his deal with Iraq.
Annan told reporters that reaction in Washington about the agreement on weapon inspections gave him hope that a U-S-led strike on Iraq would be halted.
The U-N chief returned from the greatest diplomatic mission of his career.
In Baghdad, he had brokered a deal with Saddam Hussein which apparently guarantees the U-N weapons inspectors the unfettered access to all sites in Iraq.
On Tuesday, Kofi Annan will present that deal to the United Nations in New York.
But he is spending Monday night on a stop-over in Paris.
After landing, Annan was driven to the posh Hotel Crillon on the Place de la Concorde, surprising about 50 Madonna fans who screamed and cheered for him like a pop star.
Annan told a French broadcaster of his confidence that the agreement was a correct one.
He added that President Saddam and the Iraqi government had accepted that the U-N inspectors could visit the eight so-called 'presidential palaces' on Tuesday.
Saddam had blocked U-N inspectors from checking these sites for weapons of mass destruction, sparking the crisis.
French President Jacques Chirac met Annan on Monday evening for an "informal dinner" at the Elysee Palace.
Earlier, the president's spokeswoman said he believed the accord conformed with the resolutions of the Security Council.
Throughout the crisis, France consistently has pushed for a diplomatic solution to avoid a U-S-led military strike against Baghdad.
Meanwhile, Annan - who told reporters he was very tired - is to leave Paris on a Concorde at 1100 local time (1000 GMT) and arrive in New York at 0845 local time (1345 GMT).
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