“The preferred mode of interaction with Iraqi officials seems too often to be videoconferencing or telephone calls from outside Iraq,” said Sumaidaie

NEW YORK, December 14 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The Interim Iraqi government and US administration have appealed for the United Nations to beef up its staff in the chaos-marred country to ensure the success of the first multi-party elections in the country slated for January 30.

“In the limited time we have left before the elections, it is critical for the UN to bolster its presence and intensify its activities within Iraq,” Iraq's UN Ambassador Samir Sumaidaie addressed the Security Council on Monday, December 13, reported Agence France Presse (AFP).

The United Nations pulled its non-Iraqi staff out of Iraq in October 2003 because of the deteriorating security situation, following a deadly August 19 attack on the UN's Baghdad headquarters which killed top envoy Sergio Vieira De Mello and 21 others.

Sumaidaie said that much of the world body's assistance to the war-torn country is being provided by long-distance.

“The preferred mode of interaction with Iraqi officials seems too often to be videoconferencing or telephone calls from outside Iraq, or indeed through letters which inevitably find their way into the press.”

Playing the same tone, outgoing US envoy to the UN John Danforth said the increase of the UN staff in Iraq is essential to promote the country’s political transitional process.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is expected to go to Washington later this week for talks on Iraq with outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell and his designated successor Condoleezza Rice.

Increasing the UN presence in the occupied country is expected to be at the top of the agenda.

Since the bloody attacks against the UN staff in Iraq, Annan made it clear that he would send essential staff back when “circumstances permit.”

Sumaidaie, however, said that the UN chief was using the phrase "circumstances permit" as a mantra to justify what he called an "insufficient" UN presence in the war-ravaged country.

His remarks drew ire from the UN spokesperson, Fred Eckhard, who stressed that the UN Security Council has the right to commit international staff to Iraq only when the security situation permits.

“The 'as circumstances permit' language was something the secretary-general insisted that the Security Council include in the resolution to give him the freedom to assess the security situation and to commit international staff to Iraq only as the security situation permits, and he continues to insist on that.”

“And I don't think in fairness we can say that we're hiding behind it,” he added.

Danforth said the increase of the UN staff in Iraq is essential to promote the country’s political transitional process

The US and Iraqi envoys also tried to play down fears that the deteriorating security conditions in Iraq would negatively affect the general elections.

“While the opponents of peace and security are tenacious, the multinational force has made progress in creating conditions that will allow for free and fair elections and a transition to democracy,” said Danforth.

UN special envoy to Iraq Ashraf Qazi told the UN Security Council on Monday that increasing the UN staff in Iraq is conditional on a tangible improvement in the security conditions in the country.

He added that violence in parts of the country would remain an overriding concern as the UN evaluates its role in preparations for the January vote.

“Daily reports of insurgent, terrorist and criminal activity and of military and security operations, graphically illustrate the fragility of the situation,” he said.

He, however, expressed optimism that the January elections would be held in Iraq despite difficulties.

“I am optimistic that the interim government and the people of Iraq are willing and able to successfully negotiate the transition to a united, democratic and prosperous Iraq,” he told the Security Council.

Former UN Iraqi envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned that holding the Iraqi elections would be impossible unless “first and foremost security improves.”

So far, close to 70 groups have threatened to boycott the vote, charging that any poll should only be held after the withdrawal of foreign troops and after the end of onslaughts on Sunni cities particularly Fallujah.

The Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), the highest Sunni religious authority in the country, called for a boycott of the vote, citing the impossibility of organizing fair elections held under the US-led occupation.

Major Shiite groups unveiled Thursday, December 9, a unified list of 228 candidates to vie in the general elections.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Islamic party of Kurdistan and the communist party also have a unified slate for the vote.