Iraqi political leaders urge UN envoy to help set up democracy

The top United Nations official in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, continued his efforts to consult with the widest possible spectrum of Iraqi society today, meeting with a top Muslim official who asked that the world body play an independent role in helping the Iraqi people.

Mr. Vieira de Mello, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative, told Hamid Al-Bayati, Member of the Central Committee and Representative of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, that the UN had experience in supporting the constitutional and electoral processes in many countries around the world, and assured him that it was ready to assist the Iraqi people in any way possible.

Dr. Al-Bayati informed Mr. Vieira de Mello that his organization wanted to see a democratic government in Iraq as soon as possible, asked for the UN to play an independent role in helping the Iraqi people and stressed that the political process must be an Iraqi process to select an Iraqi administration.

Mr. Vieira de Mello's first session with an Iraqi political leader occurred yesterday when he met with Adnan Pachachi, who advocated a strong UN role in establishing the democratic government of Iraq.

Mr. Vieira de Mello said "we must make the best" of Security Council resolution 1483 setting up his mandate, which offers an opportunity despite its vagueness. The resolution affirms the UN's independence and "that is our strongest asset," he declared. The UN role, he added, is bringing about what the Iraqis want, which is, ultimately, sovereignty.

The envoy also had two meetings, one on Sunday and one today, with the Administrator of the United States-run Coalition Provisional Authority, L. Paul Bremer III. On Sunday, they discussed economic and monetary matters, along with representatives of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Today, they touched on the political process.

Asked about the issue of insecurity and how that was affecting the UN's work, Mr. Vieira de Mello said that while it was obvious that the situation remained unstable improvements could be seen in Baghdad on a daily basis. He added that he would travel to the provinces this coming weekend and would therefore have a more informed opinion on the situation outside of the capital.