Saddam's eldest son tipped as new speaker after his election success

Iraq's ruling Ba'ath party won 165 seats in the 250-seat National Assembly in Monday's poll. Independents loyal to the party secured another 55 seats and the remaining 30 seats were filled by appointees to represent the Kurdish area in the north of the country, which lies outside Baghdad's control. According to official figures, 9.2 million Iraqis were entitled to vote for 512 candidates, including 25 women, at 1,500 polling stations in 54 constituencies. Some 500 foreign observers monitored the polling, which was generally free and fair, within the limits set by the party.

This was the fifth parliamentary poll since the Ba'ath, which has a socialist ideology, took power in 1968. While the National Assembly is seen as a rubber stamp for President Saddam Hussein, the body is empowered to recommend policy and its members provide a useful connection between the centre and the provinces. Mr Uday Hussein (36), the president's eldest son, who has a reputation for emotional instability and brutality, was elected in a Baghdad constituency with 99.99 per cent of the vote.

His election to parliament as a party candidate signifies his entry into the Ba'ath-dominated power structure. After a 1996 assassination attempt left Mr Uday, the president's presumed heir, partially paralysed, the younger son, Mr Qusai (34), who controls the internal intelligence agencies and the Republican Guard, emerged as the main contender for the succession. The bid for an assembly seat has given rise to speculation that Mr Uday may challenge his brother by securing the speakership, a position which would project him into the powerful Revolutionary Command Council, headed by the President.

Yesterday, Mr Hans von Sponeck, the UN humanitarian aid chief in Iraq, left Baghdad after resigning in protest against sanctions. He warned that an entire generation of young Iraqis had been condemned to a bleak future by the embargo imposed in 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait. "The international community is playing a very dangerous game," he said, "It could translate into an anti-Western mentality; it could translate into violence within Iraq."

Mr von Sponeck is the second UN official to resign this position; his predecessor, Mr Denis Halliday, of Ireland, quit in 1998, saying he did not want to oversee "the destruction of an entire nation". Reuters adds: Iraq has asked the United Nations to condemn Western air attacks on no-fly zones in the north and south of the country and to cite them in official UN reports, official Iraqi newspapers said yesterday.

"Iraq demanded the UN include a clear statement condemning these violations in its periodical reports," the newspapers said, quoting a letter to UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan by Foreign Minister Mr Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf.