Return of UN to Iraq is 'key' to self-determination

A delegation of top Iraqi officials has told the UN Security Council that the return of the UN to the country was "key" to the process of restoring sovereignty to the Iraqi people.

The Security Council President, Ambassador Heraldo Muñoz of Chile, characterized the closed-door session with the Iraqi delegation, led by the Governing Council's current President, Adnan Pachachi, as a "constructive exchange of views".

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who also attended the discussion, met yesterday with Iraqis as well as representatives from the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). During those talks, the parties asked the Secretary-General to send an advisory team to Iraq to "examine the feasibility of direct elections" before the handover of sovereignty at the end of June, as well as possible alternatives.

Speaking to reporters after the session, Governing Council member Abdel Aziz Al-Hakim reiterated the wish of leading cleric Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who has called for direct elections, for a "neutral" party to decide if such elections are possible prior to the transition of power to the Iraqis.

"With that, we ask the United Nations to play its role and [uphold] its responsibility in this case," he said.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Mahmud Muhammad al-Zibari told reporters that there was agreement that should be a UN presence to help Iraqis achieve political stability.

Mr al-Zibari said: "There is a general consensus among all members of the Security Council that we need the UN, we need it to be back in Iraq and to help move this political process forward."

(gmcg)