Annan will travel to London, Berlin, Paris and Moscow on Wednesday to discuss Iraq 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," he explained.

On Wednesday morning, Annan held a closed-door meeting with members of the Security Council to inform them of the appointment of former UN Under-Secretary-General Rafeeuddin Ahmed as his special adviser on Iraq.

Ahmed, a Pakistani, has been assisting the UN system informally since February in thinking about possible UN involvement in a post-war Iraq.

According to Eckhard, given the pace of events in Iraq and the widespread discussions on a potential role for the UN in post-war Iraq, Ahmed will now act as the "focal" point in the UN system for discussions on the various scenarios for such a role.

"He will also advise the secretary-general on any role that the Security Council might eventually mandate the UN system to carry out once the current military campaign has come to an end," Eckhard said.

The 15-nation council welcomed the appointment and agreed with Annan that any role beyond the coordination of humanitarian activities in Iraq, and other activities mandated by existing UN resolutions, would first require a new mandate from the body, a statement from Eckhard's office said.

When arriving at the UN headquarters earlier in the day, Annan told reporters that he expected the United Nations to play an important role in post-conflict Iraq to bring "necessary legitimacy" to any new administration.

"I do expect the UN to play an important role and the UN has had a good experience in this area, whether it is an issue of political facilitation leading to the emergence of a new or interim administration," he said.

"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 Annan shunned giving a definite answer when asked whether he was resigned to the fact that the UN would not play as great a role as it had in East Timor or Kosovo.

"You have to be very careful here," he said. "Each crisis has its own peculiarities. Iraq is not East Timor and Iraq is not Kosovo."

(Xinhua News Agency April 8, 2003)