A UN team arrived in Iraq on Saturday to assess whether it will be possible to hold direct elections for Iraq's first post-occupation government, as the majority Shiite Muslims have demanded.

"I hope the work of this team will help resolve the impasse over the transitional political process leading to the establishment of a provisional government for Iraq," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement from New York.

Annan gave green light to the mission after the coalition failed to broker a compromise deal with the revered Iraqi Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani over the form of the power handover.

The coalition said there is not enough time or security to organize polls before the planned June 30 power transfer. It wants to let regional caucuses chose a provisional government, which would rule until full elections in 2005.

On the other hand, Sistani demanded direct elections for the transitional government, but agreed to compromise if the United Nations said no.

The task of the UN team might look simple, only to recommend what should be done before authority is transferred to Iraqis and whether direct elections could be conducted. But the mission is actually not easy at all.

Though a latest survey showed that 70 percent Iraqis want direct elections, it is hard to say that the UN team, after "listening to the voice" of the Iraqi majority, will suggest general elections. The tight timetable for handing over self-rule to Iraqis was drawn in an agreement signed between US civil administrator for Iraq Paul Bremer and the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) last November.

"The Nov. 15 agreement was hasty and there was a lot of pressure from the US to sign it," said some Shiite members of the IGC while looking back on the document.

Observers believe that more parties will pressure the UN team than the already known three parties: the United States, Shiites and Sunnis.

They said that there would be three options for the Iraqis, which were same for the UN team.

The first is known as the American option, that is, to choose a provisional government by regional caucuses.

Most Sunnis and some Shiites applauded the idea for they thought that elections might cause a civil war.

The second option is to have direct elections, meeting Sistani's demand, on condition that the elected body would take authority from the coalition forces.

The third option is to enlarge the IGC to 125 members, grouping more politicians, heads of parties and tribes, and religious leaders to be more representative of the Iraqi people, and let such a council to form a government.

Annan said: "The UN team will endeavor to meet with representatives of all constituencies and listen to all Iraqi views and perspectives, without excluding any."

But it might hardly be possible to satisfy all parties. Though Americans have shown readiness to amend the Nov. 15 agreement and started talking about other options, they insist on the commitment to the scheduled timetable.

Muhsin Abdul Al Hamid, the IGC rotating president for February, has shown signs of flexibility.

He argued that everyone should accept the recommendations of the UN team.

"We should look for the positive way to deal with the UN delegation and study their resolutions and conclusions, though they are not obliging to us," said Hamid in an announcement published Saturday.

The UN fact-finding experts will stay in Iraq for about 10 days under the shield of rigorous security.

(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2004)