U.N. To Study Iraq Elections?

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan promised U.S. and Iraqi leaders Monday he would weigh their request to send a U.N. team to study whether it is feasible for Iraq to have quick, direct elections for a new legislature.

A decision by U.N. experts would help resolve a growing dispute between the United States and a top Shiite cleric over the best way to transfer power before a June 30 deadline.

Annan, who stressed that security of U.N. staff would be paramount, gave indications he was leaning toward approving.

"If we get it wrong at this stage, it'll be even more difficult and we may not even get to the next stage," he said. "So I think it is extremely important that we do whatever we can to assist."

The United Nations is essentially being asked to help resolve an argument between the Bush administration and Iraq's most prominent Shiite leader, Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, who has demanded direct elections to choose a provisional government by June 30. The coalition wants to keep to a handover plan dating from Nov. 15, which calls for caucuses to choose a provisional assembly.

Agreeing to al-Sistani's request would essentially mean holding the direct elections by May, and Annan has said repeatedly it doesn't appear that would give enough time to prepare for a fair vote.

"In its return to the United Nations today, the Bush Administration is trying to put out the fire in Iraq -- in particular, whether elections should be direct or indirect -- and find a face-saving way to keep the June 30 deadline for transfer of power to the Iraqis," said CBS News Foreign Affairs Analyst Pamela Falk, who was at the U.N. for the meetings.

"By arranging three-way talks involving the U.N., the Iraqi Governing Council and the Coalition, the Bush Administration is building vital support it needs to transfer power,'' said Falk.

"Coming off a weekend of violence directed at the Coalition presence in Iraq, the Bush Administration needs the U.N. to help broker a compromise on the election process with the Iraqi Shiites, who are calling for direct elections and it needs the U.N. to return to Baghdad."

Annan said he recognized the election issue was urgent and that he hoped for a speedy decision. Experts were expected to start technical talks later Monday.

Underscoring that urgency, tens of thousands of Shiite Muslims marched in Baghdad on Monday to demand early elections. It was the biggest public display of Shiite political power here since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime.

Al-Sistani has indicated he would accept the U.N. team's decision, even if it affirms Annan's belief that direct elections are unfeasible.

Annan had initially called Monday's meeting with the Iraqi Governing Council and the U.S.-led Coalition Authority to help clarify a possible new U.N. role in the future of Iraq.

The crucial issue for Annan is whether U.N. staff will be safe operating in Iraq. He ordered all international staff to leave Iraq in late October following two bombings at U.N. headquarters — including one on Aug. 19 that killed top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 others.

"Obviously, the scope for operational U.N. activities inside Iraq will continue to be constrained by the security situation for some time to come," Annan said.

The top U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, who attended Monday's meeting, has said elections cannot be organized in time to meet the June 30 deadline, given the ongoing violence and lack of voter rolls.

But he acknowledged the mechanics of the plan's election formula could be altered — an indication that the United States is taking al-Sistani's demand seriously. "We think that that is a legitimate question and one where the U.N. with its expertise in elections can offer a perspective."

Adnan Pachachi, the current Governing Council president, said the decision on elections must be resolved by the end of February, when the Iraqis will implement basic laws for the handover and transition. That means Annan would have to decide quickly about the team.

"We should not stick to rigid positions on these matters," said Pachachi, who was also at Monday's meeting. "We've got to find ways and means to deal with problems as they arise and I think this is a very healthy way of managing the affairs of our country."

Once the issue is resolved, Annan said he expects the United Nations to play "an important role" from July onwards in helping the Iraqis draft a constitution and prepare for general elections which under the Nov. 15 agreement must be held by the end of 2005.