United Nations, Feb 15: : Iraq has renounced the rotating presidency of the Geneva Disarmament Conference that it was to assume on March 17, the United Nations said.
"The Iraqi mission to the United Nations informed the Secretary General (Kofi Annan) today that they Iraqi government has sent a letter to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva saying that they would not be assuming the rotating presidency of the conference, which they were scheduled to assume on March 17," a UN statement said late on Friday night.

There was no immediate explanation for the move, which was announced after a key UN Security Council meeting on Iraq.

The US in particular had been lobbying against Baghdad taking the helm of the conference. In January, US, which is now preparing for a possible war with Iraq to force compliance with disarmament demands, said it could not accept Baghdad's leadership of the body. Bureau Report