British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, on a surprise visit to Iraq, said on Tuesday violence must not upset plans to hold nationwide elections. "I believe they can and should take place by the end of January in all of Iraq," Straw said. Straw said his trip had been long planned and was not directly connected to efforts to free 62-year-old British engineer Ken Bigley, kidnapped in Baghdad on Sept. 16. "But of course when I get to Baghdad the issue of Ken Bigley and his plight will be high on my agenda," he told reporters in northern Iraq, where he met Kurdish leaders. Asked whether there had been any contact with Bigley's captors, he said: "Not to my knowledge." In Baghdad, Straw expressed his support for Iraq and reviewed bilateral ties in a meeting with interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, said a British embassy spokeswoman. Straw's visit to Iraq coincides with a bloody trial of strength between insurgents and U.S.-Iraqi forces trying to stop them from sabotaging the planned elections. Rampant insecurity has raised questions about whether the polls can go ahead, but Allawi again pledged to hold them on time. --More 2305 Local Time 2005 GMT
