June 30 'too soon for Iraq elections'

UN secretary-general Kofi Annan came out against holding elections in Iraq before the June 30 transfer of power to Iraqis on a day when the number of US soldiers killed reached 545.

Paul Bremer, the US administrator in Iraq, said earlier that changes are possible in the formula for establishing a new Iraqi government, but that the date for the coalition to hand over power remains firm.

Mr Annan and his special adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi, spoke at UN headquarters in New York after a meeting with representatives of 45 nations and the EU where Mr Brahimi gave a briefing on his visit to Iraq.