The Bush administration wants the United Nations to return to Baghdad soon amid strong opposition to the US plan to restore sovereignty to Iraq this summer, diplomats said.
Mr Paul Bremer, the top US administrator in Iraq, has been recalled to Washington, where he will consult with President Bush and other top officials today before going to the United Nations on Monday along with an Iraq delegation.
But UN officials say Secretary-General Kofi Annan will not reach a conclusion at Monday's meeting, as he is apparently reluctant to get enmeshed in a political transition over which the world body has no authority.
Mr Adnan Pachachi, the current president of the US-selected Iraq's Governing Council, intends to appeal for greater UN involvement in the political process during the Monday meeting.
His delegation will include be Mr Ahmed Chalabi, the exile leader and council member, among others, UN officials said.
Mr Pachachi would like the world body to intervene in a showdown between the US-led coalition and the country's leading Shiite cleric.
The Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani yesterday rallied tens of thousands of demonstrators to support his calls for direct elections, rather than caucuses to select an interim assembly by the end of May.