UNITED NATIONS, Sept 14: UN Secretary-General's Special Representative in Iraq Ashraf Jehangir Qazi called for increase in UN protection force so that his team could carry out the mandate given UN mission in Iraq by the Security Council.

Mr Qazi told the UN Security Council that the international community must do all that is possible to assist Iraqis but reiterated calls to improve the security environments.

Noting that the people of Iraq desperately want peace and to be the masters of their own destiny, he conceded that the grim security situation was a challenge to hold free and fair elections. But he insisted that "the Iraqi government was responsible for the process to be in place and UN mission would only monitor and help them." The United Nations currently has no more than 35 foreign staff in Baghdad and appears reluctant to field more since its headquarters was bombed in August 2003, killing 22 people.

A couple of hundred UN staff, including aid agencies, were willing to return to Iraq, said UN spokesman Fred Eckhard. "But until the security situation in Iraq improves, and until our own capacity in Iraq to protect our workers there is increased, you are not going to see a big rush of international UN personnel into Iraq," Mr Eckhard told reporters.

"It is crucial that the necessary logistical and security arrangements for our operations be finalized as soon as possible," Mr Qazi, told the council.