United Nations: In a boost to the US stand, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan today (Feb 19, 2004) said elections cannot be held in Iraq before June 30 when Washington plans to hand over the sovereignty to a provisional Government.

He told reporters that the handover date should be respected and that the United Nations was working on recommendations about how to formulate an interim Government until elections can be held.

He had put forward those points in a meeting with more than 40 delegations at the United Nations, which was also attended by his Iraq advisor Lakhdar Brahimi.

"We shared with them our sense of the emerging consensus or understanding that elections cannot be held before the end of June, that the June 30 date for handover of sovereignty must be respected, and that we need to find a mechanism to create a caretaker Government and then help prepare the elections for later, sometime later in the future," Annan said.

"We hope that as we move forward, we'll be able to work with the Iraqis and the coalition to find a mechanism for establishing a caretaker or interim Government until such time as elections are organised," he added.

Annan is leaving for Japan on an official visit over the weekend.