The US administrator in Iraq said on Sunday the United States was awaiting a UN recommendation for the hand-over of sovereignty, still insisting it take place by June 30 as President George W. Bush wants.
In a pair of interviews on US Sunday talk shows, Paul Bremer would not say which of "literally dozens" of proposals he thought would be put forward by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who visited Iraq late last week to assess calls for an early vote.
Speaking from Baghdad, Bremer signalled some willingness to move up proposed national elections, slated under the US plan to begin January 31, 2005, perhaps to December of this year.
"If we can do it sooner and have it be legitimate and if the UN and we agree that that can be done then that's not a problem if it's the end of the year or early January," he said on CNN's "Late Edition."
But Bremer insisted elections cannot be conducted before the June hand-over date set by Bush, who faces what could be a fierce re-election battle against a Democratic opponent in November. Bush has come under increasing attack for his handling of the Iraq war from his likely challenger, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.
"There is general agreement that there is not time to hold elections in the time frame of June. Indeed I think that will be the conclusion of the UN," he said.
On ABC's "This Week," Bremer added: "We've said all along we're open to alternatives. We want to stick with the date."
Brahimi is to report back to the Iraqi Governing Council "hopefully in the next week or 10 days," Bremer said. "We will look at that advice with great seriousness."
The call for an early vote, spearheaded by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most influential religious authority for Shia, has derailed the US plan to hold caucuses for electing a transitional assembly and raised questions over how to pick such a body before June 30.
The Bush administration turned to the United Nations for help after largely bypassing the world body as it proceeded with the Iraq war.