Annan mulling UN role in Iraq

Under pressure from the US and others, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Monday he was considering a new UN political role in Iraq and intended to name a special representative soon.

But despite weekend talks with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on the accelerated timetable for Iraqi self-rule, Annan said he had not decided whether to send senior staff back to Iraq after the August bombing of UN offices in Baghdad.

Calls for the UN to return to Iraq have come from Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin as well as Powell.

Annan said he also spoke to Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader who is this month's president of 25-member Iraqi Governing Council.

Talabani told him Iraqi leaders would "need UN assistance and advice in implementing the new decisions which have been taken" on organizing an interim Iraqi government by June.

Annan withdrew all political staff from Baghdad after the Aug. 19 bombing that killed 22 people, including his special representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello. He said he would name a replacement "in the not too distant future."

"So, if the situation improves, we will be ready to go back," Annan told reporters. "But we don't need to be in Iraq 100 percent to do what we can do or offer assistance. So we are looking at what we can do outside and cross-border and eventually what we can do inside."

"I think we have always indicated that we are prepared to play our role but of course the security condition has to be appropriate," Annan said.

Nevertheless, Powell said in Washington, "I think it's time now with this new plan for the United Nations to determine whether or not circumstances will permit it to play a more active role inside the country."

Powell, speaking to reporters after meeting German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, said, "We want the UN to play a role and it is part of our plan in moving forward."

Fischer called the accelerated transition "a very important step forward" and said, "If the UN can play a role, I think this could also be very helpful."

The Bush administration's decision to speed the transfer of power won praise from Annan last week. He has long advocated a quicker restoration of Iraqi sovereignty.

Annan has never championed a UN administration or military role for Iraq, as in Kosovo or East Timor. But he has argued that the UN play a role independent from the coalition in organizing a broad-based interim Iraqi regime.

Deputy US national security adviser Stephen Hadley discussed plans in more detail on Monday with Annan and other UN officials as well as key Security Council ambassadors.

The Iraqi Governing Council is required to submit its new plans to the UN Security Council by Dec. 15. But diplomats said they expected the report sooner, perhaps as early as this week, and that the 15-nation council might adopt a resolution or a statement endorsing the plan.