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A special adviser to Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be briefed by the Bush administration on its plans for postwar Iraq, the United Nations said Friday.

A U.N. statement said Rafeeuddin Ahmed was invited for briefings by the State Department, Defense Department and National Security Council on Monday. "Mr. Ahmed hopes to get a clearer picture of the coalition's thinking on post-conflict Iraq," it said.

Laying claim to "an important role" for the United Nations in postwar Iraq, Annan has stressed that only the world body can bring legitimacy to the work of rebuilding the nation.

The Bush administration has stated repeatedly that the U.S.-led coalition waging war in Iraq will take the lead in running and rebuilding the country; the European Union and many other nations are pushing for greater U.N. involvement.

Ahmed, a former U.N. assistant secretary-general and Pakistani diplomat, has been working for Annan since February, collecting views on what the United Nations might do after a war in Iraq. Annan named him a special adviser on post-conflict issues on Monday, and said he would be a focal point for discussions within the U.N. system and for Security Council members.

The United States and Britain attacked Iraq without the council's authorization following strong opposition from France, Russia, Germany and China, which believed that Iraq could be disarmed peacefully. A similar division is emerging over plans for Iraq's reconstruction.

Council members held a brainstorming session on postwar Iraq on Wednesday and the majority disagreed with the vision outlined for the United Nations by President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair earlier in the week.

Bush and Blair welcomed humanitarian assistance from U.N. agencies and said the Security Council should adopt new resolutions "that would affirm Iraq's territorial integrity, ensure rapid delivery of humanitarian relief and endorse an appropriate post-conflict administration for Iraq."

When pressed to define the U.N. role, Bush said the world body can provide humanitarian assistance, raise money and make suggestions about the makeup of Iraq's interim authority nothing near the broad mandate some U.S. allies and other U.N. members have sought.

Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov and Chile's Ambassador Gabriel Valdes said most members wanted the United Nations to have a political role. Many wanted the world body to take charge of organizing a conference similar to the one in Germany that led to the creation of an interim government in Afghanistan.

photo credit and caption:

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan speaks during a Security Council meeting at U.N. headquarters Friday, April 11, 2003. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

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