A new government in Iraq has to be chosen following the pattern of the conference in Koenigswater, Germany, in 2001 when Hamid Karzai was nominated to lead a new government in Afghanistan after the Taliban regime was ousted by US-led forces, Straw told Britain's Newspaper Society here.

"I very much hope that following the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime, the UN will have a leading role in organizing a conference to bring together representatives from all sections of Iraq's society," he told the news editors.

"The objective of such a conference would be to place the responsibility for decisions about Iraq's political and economic future firmly in the hands of the Iraqi people," he said, while stressing that Britain is still committed to humanitarian assistance for postwar Iraq.

Britain has been pushing Washington to seek UN involvement in postwar Iraq, without receiving a positive response from US President George W. Bush so far.

Meanwhile, Straw said reconstruction of Iraq is likely to take years.

"Turning things round in a fully comprehensive way will not be the work of months," Straw said.

Straw's comments came as British Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman said that coalition campaign has secured key strategic sites like oil fields and is moving into its second phase of "steady advance".

"Now we are in the phase of steady advance and you saw signs of that steady advance moving in on Basra, wearing down the opposition there and elsewhere, beginning the process of changing the military profile in those areas where we are in control," the spokesman said.

However, he said:" No one is under any illusions. There will be further difficulties, there will be further loss of life both to military personnel and, despite all the best efforts, of civilians."

(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2003)