New York, Mar 28: British Prime Minister Tony Blair held talks with Secretary-General Kofi Annan at UN headquarters on pressing humanitarian issues arising from the war in Iraq. Blair arrived yesterday with a delegation including foreign secretary Jack Straw, but went first into one-on-one talks with Annan for about 20 minutes. Annan's aides at the subsequent full talks included Kenzo Oshima, chief coordinator of United Nations Emergency Relief Operations, and Benon Sevan, head of the UN “Oil-for-Food” programme in Iraq. Minutes before Blair entered Annan's office, it was announced that members of the Security Council had agreed on a draft resolution to reactivate the programme, which was suspended when Annan ordered all UN staff out of Iraq last week on the eve of war. Germany's ambassador to the UN, Gunter Pleuger, told reporters that he expected the draft to be put to the vote today and to be adopted unanimously by the 15 council members.

Unusually, UN security guards erected black screens around the secretariat entrance and Blair entered the building without speaking to reporters.

Blair flew into New York after summit talks with President George W Bush at Camp David. He was taken by helicopter from J F Kennedy airport to the United Nations building in Manhattan by helicopter.

Topping the agenda with Annan will be the British and US request for a swift resumption of the UN “Oil-for-Food” programme for Iraq as well as talks on the world body's role in a post-Saddam Hussein scenario.

Bureau Report