UNITED NATIONS, Feb 23: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said on Monday that elections in Iraq could take place by the end of this year or early next year if Iraqis were able to enact a law in time.

In a report sent to the security council, Mr Annan said elections could be held by the end of 2004 if preparations for a "legal and institutional framework" began immediately.

But he told the council that it was more likely that preparations would need eight months and would not be completed until May. "If the work is started immediately and the required political consensus was reached fairly rapidly, it will be possible to hold elections by the end of 2004," Mr Annan said.

"At least eight months are required to prepare a credible election in Iraq, once the legal framework is agreed upon." The UN chief's report was issued after the visit to Iraq earlier this month of an electoral team headed by his senior adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi.

Mr Annan asserted again that the US handover of political power should take place as the United States wanted, on June 30. The US plans for the handover, which involved regional caucuses choosing an assembly that would select a government, were derailed when Shia cleric Ayatollah Al-Sistani demanded early direct elections. But Mr Annan did not make a recommendation for how Iraq would select a provisional government once the US-led occupation ended on June 30.