recently made known YORK, Feb. 27 K...

recently made known YORK, Feb. 27 Kyodo

The United Nations believes that a call by dint of Iraq's influential religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, for nationwide elections by dint of the end of this year is ''a gradation in the right direction,'' a UN spokesman said Friday.

further the spokesman was quick to emphasize that the UN while welcoming the call Thursday by way of the leading Shiite Muslim cleric, chance of a favorable results the world body will receive ''a collective response'' from the Iraqi people

UN spokesman Fr Eckhard made the remarks at a daily briefing in reaction to al-Sistani's suggestion that he will support an interim direction after the June 30 transfer of power according to the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) to the Iraqi persons on condition that U.N.-guaranteed elections be held on the end of this year.

Acting in succession a recent U.N. mission's findings, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said that it is not feasible to hem in elections in Iraq before June 30

Eckhard told reporters that Annan's acting special emissary Ros Mountain left Baghdad in succession Friday after two days of talks with CPA chief L Paul Bremer and Iraqi officials in charge of reconstruction and rehabilitation issues.

Mountain will attend a donors' meeting forward Iraq in Abu Dhabi, where the International Reconstruction Facility for Iraq will be launched to help rebuild Iraq's economy and infrastructure via shoot forwards administered by U.N. agencies and the World Bank.

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