At a press conference at the United Nations on Monday, Secretary General Kofi Annan is reported to have expressed the hope that the Security Council will listen to the concerns of the Government of Iraq about the work of the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) in Iraq, once it complies with the Security Council resolutions. The press conference took place following the return of the Secretary-General's special mission to Iraq, comprised of three special envoys. He sent the mission to defuse the situation created after Iraq barred U.S. weapons inspectors from entering military sites. According to the Secretary-General, all Iraq needs to do is comply "with the obligations under all relevant (Security Council) resolutions." He said that once that is done, he expected the Security Council would, in turn, be prepared to listen to Iraq and to its grievances. He said that it is an issue between Iraq and the Security Council. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz also addressed the press conference. He said that Iraqi officials had explained to the Secretary-General's mission the concerns and grievances which Iraq has been suffering since 1991. He said the Iraqis were concerned about the "unbalanced" composition of the UNSCOM. "The Americans dominate the Commission," he said. "In 1996 the percentage of their presence was 44 percent among other nationalities." This year, he said, their presence is 32 percent as compared to the French presence of five percent. Mr. Aziz said that all the leading positions in the headquarters of UNSCOM have been held by Americans. He also charged that "those who created the crisis which provoked the Council to take further decisions against Iraq" were Americans. Mr. Aziz said that the United States will not agree with the lifting of sanctions unless the leadership of Iraq was changed. He also accused the members of UNSCOM of intruding on Iraq's national security by collecting information on security "and at the same time, the main source of information of UNSCOM is an American source, the U2 spying plane" which collects information about Iraq, and gives UNSCOM selected information. "I cannot trust that the Special Commission is in full control of that plane and what that plane provides to the Special Commission is impartial, technical information," Mr. Aziz said. He also charged that the U2 spy plane entered Iraq one or two days before the military attacks which the United States conducted against Iraq in January and June 1993, and in September 1996. Mr. Aziz also called the deal whereby Iraq is allowed to sell about $2 billion worth of oil every six months in order to buy food and medicine for its people suffering under sanctions, "a farce." He said U.S. officials insisted on finding mistakes in contracts the Security Council's sanctions committee has to approve, thereby delaying the needed supplies. The leader of the Secretary-General's mission to Iraq, Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, told the press that he thought the situation "is extremely serious." The United States resumed the flights of its U2 spy planes over central Iraq on Monday. Mohamed al-Sahaf, Iraq's Foreign Minister, sent a letter to Kofi Annan in which he said that Iraq now considered the U2 flights alien aircraft and not part of the U.N. weapons surveillance program. He said the flight was "escorted by several formations of American aircraft" and violated Iraqi sovereignty. President Bill Clinton told reporters at the White House that "The next step is to get a very strong resolution from the United Nations manifesting the determination of the international community to resume those inspections." French Ambassador to the U.N. Alain Dejammet said that if Iraq rescinded its decision (to bar U.S. inspectors), "then it will be possible to reopen the dialogue." "We are not going to negotiate but will listen," he said. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov demanded that "Iraq immediately resume cooperation with the United Nations." But they also declared themselves against a military strike, urging all parties "to adopt an attitude of restraint and avoid any escalation of contradictions, especially in terms of military conflict." Britain and Germany called on Iraq to rescind the ban against American arms inspectors. Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy said that the United Nations, not the United States, should solve the crisis. TML DAILY, 11/97 Shawgi Tell Graduate School of Education University at Buffalo [EMAIL PROTECTED]