The UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan expressed concern last night over divisions among Iraqis about a system to assume power from the US-led occupation this summer.
But he said the UN electoral team, which arrived in Baghdad on Saturday to study whether elections can be held before the transfer of power on June 30th, had been well-received and was speaking to a spectrum of Iraqis.
Annan told reporters and later the UN Security Council that he expected the group, led by senior adviser, Mr Lakhdar Brahimi, to finish its work in about a week, and that he would make his recommendations before the end of February.
"I am concerned that there is no consensus yet on the best way to handle the transition," Mr Annan told a closed meeting of the Security Council.
"Many Iraqis have been calling for elections before June 30th. Others disagree and prefer other options for choosing the members of Iraq transitional institutions," he said, according to his speaking notes.
He said he made clear there is no single "right way" but that Iraqis themselves should agree on a plan.
Mr Annan said the UN team would meet Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the influential and reclusive leader of Iraq's Shi'ites, who make up 60 per cent of the population, and who has called mass demonstrations in favor of immediate elections.
The current US plan is to choose legislators indirectly through regional caucuses, a move opposed by Mr al-Sistani.
President Bush wants UN help to arrange an early transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis in an effort to ease the post-war violence and dispel concerns of extended US rule as he faces a tough reelection fight in November.
Mr Annan said he was working under the assumption that the transfer of power would take place, as agreed, on June 30th. However, he said again that "if the parties were to agree to other arrangements I think it would be difficult to reject it. We will have to consider it."
US Ambassador Mr John Negroponte stressed, however, the need to adhere to the June 30th date.
"We are very committed to the June 30 deadline," he told reporters after the council meeting. "This is a date of the utmost importance to us."