UNITED NATIONS, July 23: UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Iraq, Mr Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, said on Thursday that he would work as closely as possible with the Iraqi interim government to bring "the disparate elements in Iraq" into the political process.

He said he will focus on supporting national efforts to achieve the political transition. Mr Qazi, who is set to go to Baghdad as the head of the UN mission in mid-August, lamented that "so far no country has come forward to provide protection forces for the UN staff."

Security, Mr Qazi added, "is not only the first consideration - it is the first priority, the second priority and the third priority." "There is every reason for the Iraqi people to see the UN mission in Iraq as a mission in their service and for them, and it will be my job to strengthen that impression there," Mr Qazi said talking to reporters shortly after the press briefing with Mr Annan.

Mr Qazi said he would support the planned convening of a national conference, the creation of an Interim Council, the holding of elections by January 2005, "which would then lead to the post-electoral phase - drafting of constitution - and then finally an election under the constitution."

In this process, Mr Qazi said, he would work as closely as possible with the interim government and to bring "the disparate elements in Iraq" into the political process while consulting with neighbouring countries as well as the permanent members of the Security Council.

Earlier at a press briefing, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, while stressing the need to be "coldly realistic" about security, noted that the UN had already accomplished much despite constraints.

"We have been able to help form an interim government. We have been able to work with them to put in place an electoral framework, a legal framework for elections, and they are counting on us to help them work their way through the electoral process until the elections next year, and also assist with the constitutional process," Mr Annan noted.

"But also, everyone must realize that beyond that, the circumstances have to be right for us to scale up our operations and activities and get into other areas like institution building and human rights, recovery and reconstruction."

He said that Iraqis "do believe that the UN has a vital role of assistance, of facilitation, to play in bringing about a successful political transition in which the entire Iraqi people are stakeholders.