Annan to send UN team into Iraq

THE United Nations will send a team to Iraq to determine whether elections should be held once the US-led coalition authority can guarantee the mission’s safety, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday.

Mr Annan was asked by the US-led coalition and the Iraqi Governing Council to consider sending a team to examine the possibility of holding elections before the return of Iraqi sovereignty on June 30.

The UN chief said he believed the world body could play “a constructive role” in helping to break an impasse over the selection of a future interim Iraqi government and will send in a team as soon as security arrangements can be made.