United Nations: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has termed the US-led invasion of Iraq "illegal" as it contravened the world body's charter and said he feared "credible" elections in that country as planned were unlikely to take place given the present security scenario.

"I've indicated that it was not in conformity with the UN Charter from our point of view, and from the Charter point of view it was illegal," Annan told the BBC World Service yesterday (Sep 15, 2004) when asked whether he thought the war was legal.

The decision to take action in Iraq should have been made by the UN Security Council, not unilaterally, he said adding, "I am one of those who believe that there should have been a second resolution."

With less than four months left for the elections in Iraq, which are scheduled to take place in January 2005, Annan warned that there could not be "credible elections if the security conditions as they are now".

The UN would give advice and assistance to the Iraqi interim Government in the run-up to the polls, he said adding but it was upto the administration to decide whether elections should take place in such an atmosphere.

Annan said that "painful lessons" had been learnt since the war in Iraq and hoped "we do not see another Iraq-type operation for a long time - without UN approval and much broader support from the international community".

"Lessons for the US, the UN and other member States. I think in the end everybody's concluded it's best to work together with our allies and through the UN," he said.