During the visit, Annan is expected to meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gehard Schroeder and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Eckhard told reporters.

"The four countries are actively engaged in the current debate on a UN role in Iraq and he (Annan) wanted to have discussions at a higher level," the spokesman explained.

Annan held a private meeting with members of the Security Council on Monday morning on Iraq, during which he announced the appointment of former UN Under-Secretary-General Rafeeuddin Ahmed of Pakistan as his special adviser on Iraq.

Ahmed has since February this year assisted the UN system in thinking about possible UN involvement in post-war Iraq and he will now act as the "focal" point in the UN system for discussions on the various scenarios for such a role, Eckhard said in a statement.

Ahmed will also advise Annan on any role that the Security Council might eventually mandate and the UN system will carry out once the current conflict in Iraq ends, he said.

Earlier in the day, Annan reiterated that he did expect the world body to play an important role in Iraq since it has had a good experience in areas of political facilitation leading to a new or interim administration, reconstruction, human rights and the rule of law.

"So there are lots of areas where the UN can play a role, but above all the UN involvement does bring legitimacy which is necessary, necessary for the country, for the region and for the peoples around the world," he stressed.

But the UN chief dismissed the analogy between Iraq and Kosovo and East Timor.

"Each crisis has its own peculiarities. Iraq is not East Timor and Iraq is not Kosovo," he noted. "There are trained personnel, there is a reasonably effective civil service, there are engineers and others who can play a role in their own country."

Annan stressed that the Iraqis have to be responsible for their political future and the international community should focus on helping them establish a new leadership.

With an end of the conflict in Iraq in sight, the United Nations has stepped up its efforts to smooth differences over what role the body could play in post-conflict Iraq.

The United States holds that it should play a leading role in Iraq, while many countries, including France, Germany and Russia, insisted that only the United Nations, the world's main authority in charge of maintaining peace and security, could play a major role in the country.

(Xinhua News Agency April 8, 2003)