WASHINGTON: UN Secretary - General Kofi Annan's decision to support the US position that direct elections cannot be held in Iraq prior to the June 30 deadline for transferring sovereignty is a boost to the Bush administration.

US officials have long maintained that the security situation and preparations for holding elections are inadequate, and instead advocated a complex series of regional caucuses for selecting a new government.

But the United States ran into opposition from a prominent Iraqi cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who, buoyed by thousands of his supporters taking to the streets, said elections were the only way to create a legitimate new government.

Washington had sought the help of the United Nations in closing differences between the two sides, and after travelling to Iraq, Mr Annan's special advisor, Lakhdar Brahimi, reached the same conclusion as US officials and the Iraqi Government Council when they agreed last November to the timeframe for returning sovereignty.

While there is no time for holding elections, Annan maintained the June 30 deadline for formally ending the US occupation should remain in place. That was reaffirmed by the American administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, who told reporters in Baghdad changes in the transition plan are possible but the schedule would stay in place.

But it appeared the chances of holding caucuses were diminishing, with US Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledging on Thursday there is not enough support for that aspect of the plan.

"It does not appear that caucus system has the support needed for it to work," Mr Powell told ABC radio. US officials did not directly respond to Mr Annan's recommendation, saying instead they would wait to hold private discussions with the secretary general before commenting publicly.

The UN secretary general held off on suggesting what sort of government should receive power if elections cannot be held, but the United States is said to favour expanding the Iraqi Governing Council, which would rule on an interim basis until direct elections can be he held.

With Mr Annan sticking to the June 30 deadline, there is little chance the date will slip. Such a move would further fuel resentment of the US occupation in Iraq, and President George W. Bush is eager to transfer sovereignty ahead of the November presidential elections.

Another option for establishing an interim government would be to employ a model used in Afghanistan: a national conference with participants broadly representative of Iraqi society.

For now, US officials are quiet on their options, but pledge to continue working with the United Nations and Iraqis to establish a democratic government regardless of which proposal is undertaken.

"There's at least a dozen - maybe a score - of things in that column of who knows what they'll come up with," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Wednesday. "I'm not going to lean towards any particular one or start throwing darts at the list."

In moving forward, the United States must also decide how big of a role the United Nations will be allowed to play in the transition. The Bush administration has been divided at least since April as to what role the world body should have in postwar Iraq.

The United States believes the UN role should be vital, but some European allies and Iraqis themselves want a more prominent role for the United Nations, a point emphasized by Mr Annan.

"It is clear that Iraqis want the UN to play a major role during the phase of transition that is scheduled to begin on July 1," the secretary general told a meeting of "friends of Iraq," composed of 45 countries and the European Commission. -dpa