BAGHDAD, June 4: Iraq named a team on Friday to organize its first free polls in January, the next step in establishing its independence from US occupation.

Carina Perelli, a UN election expert, said proportional representation would be used to elect a 275-seat assembly that would oversee the drafting of a new constitution and choose a replacement for the present interim government.

Ms Perelli said naming seven members to the electoral commission and a chief elections officer was "one step further in the right direction along the road towards a democratic, sovereign, free and peaceful Iraq". It came three days after the United Nations nominated an interim government and a new president. -Reuters