31.   He spoke two days before the chief U.N. arms inspector, Richard Butler, is to arrive in Baghdad for critical talks on a new standoff over weapons inspections.

32.   He noted that Prince Sultan also called on Iraq to comply with U.N. resolutions providing for weapons inspections and expressed support for a diplomatic resolution.

33.   In Iraq, UN sanctions prevent food shipments until Iraq fully complies with weapons inspections.

34.   In one particularly pointed remark, Clinton warned Saddam Hussein of dire consequences if the standoff over weapons inspections continued.

35.   In the medium term, Albright said, the goal is to get Iraq to comply with U.N. resolutions, including a functioning regime of weapons inspection.

36.   In that way, he could both turn U.N. weapons inspections into little more than a minor irritant and give the American president a lesson in political deviousness.

37.   Iraq carried out its threat to ban U.S. members of United Nations weapons inspection teams from working in the country, U.N. officials said.

38.   Iraq has exploited Russian support to evade international weapons inspections and cheat on U.N. sanctions.

39.   Iraq has issued an ultimatum instructing the UN to complete its weapons inspections in six months.

40.   Iraq said it would block weapons inspections by a U.N. team it said was dominated by U.S. personnel, renewing a dispute that erupted in November.