United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in Stockholm on Sunday he would decide soon whether to send a team to Iraq to study the feasibility of holding early elections prior to a transfer of power in that war-torn country.  

In an interview with Swedish television, Annan said he would make the decision in "the next day or so."

The United States has urged the UN to send such a team to Iraq, and many US officials consider it difficult to hold elections before the July 1 deadline to give political power back to the Iraqis.

The Iraqi side has also urged the UN to make a quick decision. The Interim Government's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has said in Davos, Switzerland that a legislative election prior to the power transfer would require a census and therefore could delay giving power back to the Iraqis by a month or two.

But he expected the UN to accept a US request to study prospects for elections before the transfer of power in Iraq.

Analysts said the team would assess the situation in Iraq and determine whether it is possible to hold elections by the end of June so a government could be chosen prior to the power transfer.

(Xinhua News Agency January 26, 2004)