Security is needed to organize a successful election in Iraq, but use of military force to restore order should be taken as a "last resort", U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Thursday. Annan said in a progress report to the U.N. Security Council that with elections for a transitional government in Iraq only weeks away, insecurity remains a "major obstacle". "The widespread insecurity in Iraq - including intimidation, hostage-taking, targeted and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, and brutal acts of terror - is a major obstacle," he said. "At the same time, while restoring security throughout Iraq has become an imperative need, the use of military force should be a last resort and undertaken in strict conformity with international humanitarian and human-rights law," Annan said. Iraqis are scheduled to go to the polls on January 30 to elect a transitional government and a legislature that will draft a constitution. --More 2155 Local Time 1855 GMT
