ELVIS
01-19-2004, 07:15 AM
Monday, January 19, 2004
http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2004/WORLD/meast/01/19/sprj.nitop.iraq.intl/long.sistani.afp.jpg
Thousands of Shiite Muslims marched in Baghdad.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Thousands of Shiite Muslims have marched in Baghdad calling for direct elections.
The protests came as the top U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, prepared for talks with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan about a future role for the U.N. in Iraq.
Coalition officials are pressing for the speedy return of U.N. staff pulled out of Iraq after two bombings last year, but Annan has stated repeatedly that the security conditions there are still too dangerous.
Monday's meeting in New York comes one day after a truck laden with explosives went off near the compound of the U.S.-led occupation authority in Baghdad, killing at least 23, mostly Iraqis.
An Iraqi delegation led by Adnan Pachachi, current chairman of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, will also attend Monday's meeting.
Observers say Bremer hopes Annan will back his line that it is not possible to hold direct elections in Iraq before a July 1 deadline.
The country's most prominent Shiite leader, Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, has rejected a U.S. formula for power transfer through a provisional legislature selected by 18 regional caucuses, insisting on direct elections instead.
But Bremer maintains that elections cannot be organized in time to meet the June 30 deadline, given the ongoing violence and lack of voter rolls.
On Monday, tens of thousands of Shiites marched to the University of al-Mustansariyah, in support of Sistani.
Annan ordered all international staff to leave Iraq in late October following two bombings at U.N. headquarters -- including one on August 19 that killed top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 others.
Although Annan has not ruled out sending some staff back if they had important tasks, he has called for "much greater clarity" on what the Iraqis and the coalition expect of the United Nations as he gauges whether the job is worth the risk.
http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2004/WORLD/meast/01/19/sprj.nitop.iraq.intl/long.sistani.afp.jpg
Thousands of Shiite Muslims marched in Baghdad.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Thousands of Shiite Muslims have marched in Baghdad calling for direct elections.
The protests came as the top U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, prepared for talks with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan about a future role for the U.N. in Iraq.
Coalition officials are pressing for the speedy return of U.N. staff pulled out of Iraq after two bombings last year, but Annan has stated repeatedly that the security conditions there are still too dangerous.
Monday's meeting in New York comes one day after a truck laden with explosives went off near the compound of the U.S.-led occupation authority in Baghdad, killing at least 23, mostly Iraqis.
An Iraqi delegation led by Adnan Pachachi, current chairman of the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, will also attend Monday's meeting.
Observers say Bremer hopes Annan will back his line that it is not possible to hold direct elections in Iraq before a July 1 deadline.
The country's most prominent Shiite leader, Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, has rejected a U.S. formula for power transfer through a provisional legislature selected by 18 regional caucuses, insisting on direct elections instead.
But Bremer maintains that elections cannot be organized in time to meet the June 30 deadline, given the ongoing violence and lack of voter rolls.
On Monday, tens of thousands of Shiites marched to the University of al-Mustansariyah, in support of Sistani.
Annan ordered all international staff to leave Iraq in late October following two bombings at U.N. headquarters -- including one on August 19 that killed top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 others.
Although Annan has not ruled out sending some staff back if they had important tasks, he has called for "much greater clarity" on what the Iraqis and the coalition expect of the United Nations as he gauges whether the job is worth the risk.