The Iraqi press is at pains to persuade the world that an invitation to UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix for talks in Baghdad is for real.

Al-Thawrah says the invitation shows Iraq's desire for "balanced relations" with the UN Security Council and for an agreement which "preserves Iraq's rights and does not detract from the relevant UN resolutions".

Iraq's initiative was bound to embarrass the pretenders and liars

Al-Thawrah

An editorial in Al-Qadisiyah says the invitation proves Iraq's sincerity in seeking a "successful dialogue" with the UN.

Al Thawrah's chief editor, Sami Mahdi, argues in an editorial that the Iraqi initiative is not a tactical manoeuvre but "an expression of sincere belief in the principle of dialogue and its importance in resolving disputed issues".

According to Babil, Baghdad "understands very well that human relations are based on dialogue and the exchange of viewpoints."

Foiling Britain and the US

The papers are quick to contrast the negative response of the US and UK to the offer with that of other states.

"The Iraqi initiative was bound to embarrass the pretenders and liars, who declare day and night their premeditated hostile intentions against Iraq and the Arab nation in general," Nawwaf Abu-al-Hayja says in Al-Thawrah.

We want to impress on the Security Council that we are a civilised country that seeks well-being and peace

Babil

Babil says the "clamour in Washington" was "predictable".

Only the "henchmen of the evil US Administration" came out to "express a biased and hostile stand against Iraq", he writes.

According to Al-Thawrah, Baghdad's "clear message" reached "all honest people in the world verbatim".

'Serious offer'

Abd-al-Razzaq Muhammad al-Dulaymi, writing in Babil, says Baghdad's initiative wants "to dot the i's and cross the t's" with the three other Security Council permanent member states - Russia, France, and China.

Blix does not want to raise false hopes

"We want to impress upon them that we are a civilised country that seeks well-being and peace," he says.

An editorial in Al-Thawrah also calls on the UN Security Council to give the initiative the "seriousness and interest" it deserves.

Al-Qadisiyah contrasts Baghdad's "responsible stand" with what it calls "US heresy".

It calls on the United Nations and the Security Council to expose "US and British violation of international law, the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions".

Malik Mansur, writing in Al-Thawrah, says Iraq is maintaining a dialogue with the UN because "it is confident and fully convinced about the soundness of its stand on the implementation of the relevant resolutions".

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.