UN Secretary General Mr Kofi Annan will meet President George W. Bush in Washington on Wednesday as the United Nations moves cautiously toward resuming a role in occupied Iraq and prepares to send a team to assess the feasibility of staging elections.
A UN spokesman said the visit by Mr Annan, on which he will also meet Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell, national security adviser Ms Condoleezza Rice and congressional leaders, was routine but UN officials said Iraq would be high on the agenda.
Despite continuing attacks and bombings in Iraq, Mr Annan has said he will send experts shortly to assess the feasibility of holding elections before June 30th, when sovereignty is due to be returned to the Iraqis.
The United States has been urging the UN to resume a role in Iraq and help end a stalemate between the US-led occupation authorities, who believe time is too short to arrange an election, and Iraq's Shi'ite leaders, who are demanding such a poll.
With the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday this week, the electoral team is not expected to arrive until February 7th, at the earliest.
Mr Annan withdrew all international staff from Iraq at the end of October, following two bombings at UN headquarters in Baghdad. The first on August 19th killed 22 people, including the chief of mission, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello.