UN role in Iraq is to support its people, Annan and his new envoy say

Emphasizing the importance of security for United Nations activities in Iraq, Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his newly-appointed senior envoy to the country, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, said today this work will focus on supporting national efforts to achieve the political transition.

Security concerns are paramount as the world body prepares to return to the strife-torn nation where last year 22 people were killed in an attack on the UN's Baghdad headquarters.

The Secretary-General told reporters Mr. Qazi would travel to Iraq "as soon as practicable" once arrangements have been made to protect him and his small staff.

At the same time, he cautioned that for the UN to build up a larger presence "a dedicated force protecting the UN staff and its facilities" will be needed.

Security, Mr. Qazi added, "is not only the first consideration - it is the first priority, the second priority and the third priority."

He noted, however, Iraqis "do believe that the UN has a vital role of assistance, of facilitation, to play in bringing about a successful political transition in which the entire Iraqi people are stakeholders.

"There is every reason for the Iraqi people to see the UN mission in Iraq as a mission in their service and for them, and it will be my job to strengthen that impression there," he said during a press encounter shortly after a meeting with the Mr. Annan.

The Secretary-General reiterated that the UN would be in the country to provide assistance to its people. "We are not going to run the elections," he said. "The Iraqis will run the elections with our help, our advice and technical assistance."

Asked about his work, Mr. Qazi said he would support the planned convening of a national conference, the creation of an Interim Council, the holding of elections by January 2005, "which would then lead to the post electoral phase - constitutional building - and then finally an election under the constitution."

In this process, Mr. Qazi said, he would work as closely as possible with the interim Government and to bring "the disparate elements in Iraq" into the political process while consulting with neighbouring countries as well as the permanent members of the Security Council.

The Secretary-General, while stressing the need to be "coldly realistic" about security, noted that the UN had already accomplished much despite the constraints. "We have been able to help form an interim government. We have been able to work with them to put in place an electoral framework, a legal framework for elections, and they are counting on us to help them work their way through the electoral process until the elections next year, and also assist with the constitutional process," he noted.

"But also, everyone must realize that beyond that, the circumstances have to be right for us to scale up our operations and activities and get into other areas like institution building and human rights, recovery and reconstruction," he said.