UN officials have ruled out elections in Iraq before a transfer of power on June 30th but might be able to schedule them before the end of the year.
But they said a caucus system proposed by the United States, at least in the form Washington had wanted, was no longer on the table. However, diplomats believed some transfer of power would take place on June 30th, and not be delayed until after elections.
Mr Lakhdar Brahimi, a senior adviser to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, is in Iraq this week to resolve a dispute over how a provisional government would be formed in Baghdad before the US-led occupation relinquishes power to Iraqis.
The White House, after scorning the world body for months, requested Mr Annan to intervene when an influential Shi'ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani insisted on direct elections rather than caucuses for members of a national assembly that would choose an interim government.
Mr Annan expects to give his recommendations on the election process before the end of the month.
Diplomats said some transfer of power would take place on June 30th but that elections could not be held before then.