VIENNA, July 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan failed to deliver answers on Iraqi questions including disarmament, the nature of inspections, UN-Iraqi relations and U.S. threats of using force against Baghdad, causing the failure of negotiations with the Iraqi delegation, led by Foreign Minister Naji Sabri.

Iraqi officials admitted Friday, July 5, 2002, that talks on the return of UN weapons inspectors to Iraq, seen as a step towards lifting the 12-year-old UN embargo against the country, broke down, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The Iraqis didn't say yes" to a return of UN weapons inspectors, Annan said after talks with Sabri.

The UN "will stay in contact" with Iraq, Annan said after two days of talks with Sabri at the United Nations offices in the Austrian capital.

"We'll maintain contact," Sabri told a press conference after Annan left, admitting that the negotiations failed.

Having responded positively to all Security Council Resolutions on the crisis, Baghdad insisted that the crippling embargo in place since Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait must be lifted before UN weapons inspectors can return.

Earlier, Annan said there was some progress. "There will be a new round of negotiations," said Annan, but did not give a date or location for the next talks.

Annan dissociated himself from threats by the United States to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as part of its (so-called) "anti-terrorism" drive, on the grounds that Iraq is believed to be developing weapons of mass destruction.

"I was not here to stop an attack. I was here to get the inspectors back," Annan said.

UN arms inspectors, accused, by Iraq, of espionage, were pulled out on the eve of joint U.S.-British air attacks launched against Iraq in December 1998.

They have not been allowed back since, although a lifting of the embargo depends on the elimination of banned weapons programs in Iraq being certified by international inspectors. Iraq insists it has no programs of banned weapons.

 During the talks, Sabri demanded answers on issues including disarmament, the nature of inspections, UN-Iraqi relations and threats of force against Baghdad, but Annan focused on the practicalities of the return of the inspectors.

After two days of negotiations in Vienna, Annan failed to persuade Sabri to allow back the UN weapons inspectors, according to BBC’s online news service.

UN officials warned not to expect too much from the meeting in Vienna - the third such meeting this year - even though Annan said the atmosphere was positive after the first day.

On the second day, the talks continued longer than was scheduled.

But at the end, Annan conceded that the sticking point - the return to Iraq of the inspectors as demanded by the UN Security Council - had not been resolved.

"There has been some movement, but obviously not enough."

The session between Annan and Sabri followed detailed talks by officials from both sides on how any return of inspectors would be handled on the ground.

The multinational UN team wants to check accusations that Iraq is developing chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

Under Security Council resolutions, sanctions imposed 12 years ago can be lifted only when inspectors certify that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction have been destroyed, along with the long-range missiles that could deliver them.