U.N. special envoy to Iraq eyes 'acceptable' election at best

Japan Policy & Politics, March 1, 2004

TOKYO, Feb. 25 Kyodo

U.N. special envoy to Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi said Wednesday the Iraqis are aiming to conduct an ''acceptable'' election at best in the country, given its security situation and political instability.

Speaking at the Japan National Press Club, Brahimi, special adviser to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, acknowledged the United Nations faces a daunting task in organizing a free and fair election in light of the current circumstances.

''What we think Iraqis are hoping'' is to hold a direct general election that can at best be ''considered to be reasonably acceptable to the large majority,'' Brahimi told reporters.

Earlier this month, Brahimi led a U.N. fact-finding mission to Iraq to look into the country's political situation and the possibility of a direct election.

Acting on the team's findings, Annan said it was not feasible to hold an election before the proposed June 30 transfer of power to the Iraqis by the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority now occupying Iraq.

On Monday, Annan, while on a visit to Japan, said it would be appropriate to hold an election in Iraq around the end of 2004 or early 2005 as part of efforts to create an independent government for the country.

Security remains volatile in most of Iraq. Last August, the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad was the target of a bomb attack that killed 23 people, including Annan's special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.

Brahimi, 70, who previously served as the former U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan, also called on the international community not to forget to help postwar Afghanistan amid the shift of interest to Iraq.

Brahimi is here in Tokyo to attend a symposium Tuesday on peace-building and rehabilitation in Afghanistan and East Timor.