Iraq, Iran Open Direct Talks in Geneva

On this day, foreign ministers Tariq Aziz of Iraq and Ali Akbar Velayati of Iran opened direct face-to-face negotiations in Geneva.UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar said both countries were "really interested in finding solutions" to end their eight-year-old conflict.Perez de Cuellar told the two foreign ministers that their task was "to proceed with full implementation of the 10-point plan approved by the Security Council last year in Resolution 598."The Iran-Iraq war has caused more than one million dead, 1.7 million wounded, 1.5 million refugees and about 50,000 prisoners.Meanwhile, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution condemning "the use of chemical weapons in the conflict between Iran and Iraq." The resolution does not mention the report of the UN investigators who have established seven cases of use of chemical weapons by the Iraqis. Read full story