UN Agrees Need for Elections in Iraq, Envoy Says

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UN Agrees Need for Elections in Iraq, Envoy Says

NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - A United Nations (news - web sites) envoy said after talks with Iraq (news - web sites)'s top Shi'ite cleric Thursday the world body backs his calls for elections but did not go into the timing of such polls.

Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani "is insistent on holding the elections and we are with him on this 100 percent because elections are the best means to enable any people to set up a state that serves their interest," Lakhdar Brahimi told reporters after holding two hours of talks with the cleric who holds the key to Iraq's political future.

A U.N. team led by Brahimi is touring Iraq to assess the feasibility of holding early direct elections that Sistani has been pushing for in opposition to a U.S. plan to hand over power on June 30.

"We are in agreement with the Sayyid (descendant of the Prophet Mohammad) that these elections should be prepared well and should take place in the best possible conditions so that it would bring the results which the Sayyid wants and the people of Iraq and the UN," Brahimi said.

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UN Agrees Need for Elections in Iraq, Envoy Says