UNITED NATIONS, June 17: There is still too much violence in Iraq for UN senior staff to reestablish a permanent presence to help with the political process and reconstruction, Secretary- General Kofi Annan said on Thursday.

A resolution adopted by the UN Security Council last week gave the world body "a leading role" in preparing for the transition to an interim government at the end of June and for later elections.

But at Mr Annan's insistence, the council resolution said a permanent UN presence would resume only "as circumstances permit." "As of today, circumstances do not permit" such a presence, Mr Annan told reporters as he returned to UN headquarters after a trip to South America.

The United Nations pulled its senior staff out of Iraq after two bomb attacks on its Baghdad offices, including one in August 2003 in which 22 people were killed.

Since then, only small teams of senior staff have been sent to Iraq for short periods, to work with Iraqi and occupation leaders on the political transition and election preparations.

In the latest round of attacks in Iraq, bombers killed 41 people in two strikes on Baghdad's fledgling security forces on Thursday, less than two weeks before the June 30 end of the US-led occupation. Mr Annan said the deteriorating security situation left him "very worried."

"We are monitoring the situation extremely carefully, but I would want to urge that everything be done to secure the environment, not just for the UN to return, but for the ordinary Iraqi, for reconstruction, and for the stability of Iraq," he said. -Reuters