Baghdad, Iraq ? Chief weapons inspectors and Iraqi officials ended two days of critical talks on Monday with a 10-point agreement to make U.N. inspections more effective and possibly help answer questions about what happened to thousands of chemical and biological weapons.

In potentially important concessions, the Iraqis agreed to encourage weapons scientists to submit to private interviews with U.N. inspectors, and they promised to search their weapons stocks for more chemical rocket warheads like the 16 empty munitions found in two Iraq locations in recent days.

The agreement comes a week before the chief inspectors are to deliver a key report on their hunt for biological, chemical and nuclear weapons in Iraq, which resumed in November. The inspectors are pressing for more time to search, even as Washington and London — the chief proponents of military action — say time is running out.

Britain, America’s staunchest ally, announced it was sending 26,000 troops — one-quarter of its army — to the Persian Gulf in case of war against Iraq. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned that Iraq was running out of time to comply with U.N. orders.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held talks Monday with Turkish generals in Ankara amid reports of U.S. frustration with Turkey’s reluctance to approve U.S. use of its bases for a northern thrust against Iraq.

Chief weapons inspector Hans Blix and U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei had flown to Baghdad on Sunday, seeking greater Iraqi cooperation with the inspectors.

“We still need some time” for inspections, ElBaradei said.

The demand for private interviews with weapons scientists had been a key one for the inspectors. Under the new agreement, Iraq also promised to expand a list of such prospective witnesses that Baghdad gave the United Nations.

No arrangements were announced for taking specialists abroad for questioning, as sought by the U.S. government. However, Blix said Monday night that it was likely the interviews would be held soon in Cyprus.