New UN special representative for Iraq Ashraf Jehangir Qazi should be able to deploy in Iraq with a small team by late July or early August, UN spokeswoman Mari Okabe said on Wednesday.

Okabe told reporters that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan intended to send Qazi, currently Pakistani ambassador to the United States, as quickly as possible.

But she said that the exact timetable for the new envoy's deployment will depend on the overall security environment in Iraq and on the necessary arrangements for appropriate facilities and security arrangements with the US-led multinational force, which still need to be finalized.

Qazi was appointed by Annan on Monday as the successor of Sergio de Mello, who was killed along with 21 other people in a bomb attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad on Aug. 19.

Once Qazi's team is on the ground, Okabe said, its work would include "supporting the Iraqis in their political process, and one of the first steps in that would be the holding of the national conference."

Qazi came to the UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday to meet with UN officials for the first time since his appointment.

He is expected to be released from his current post in Washington within two weeks.

Qazi told reporters that it's a challenge to be a top UN envoy to Iraq and he believed that the UN's role in Iraq is "critically important."

Annan ordered the withdrawal of all UN staff from Iraq in October after several major international aid agencies came under terrorist attacks. Since then, most UN staff have been based in Amman, capital of Jordan. UN officials have reiterated that UN staff could not return to Iraq in large numbers and their return would be progressive.

Under a resolution adopted by the Security Council in early June, a new force would be created within the US-led multinational one to protect UN staff and facilities.

According to diplomatic sources, some countries, including Georgia and Nepal, have offered contributions to the new force. But they said it would take some time to get the force ready for deployment.

(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2004)