U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Thursday that the United Nations is on track in preparing for elections in Iraq but cautioned that security issues in the war-torn country still need to be addressed. "What we have to do we have done," Annan said at a press conference with outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. Annan later met with Powell's designated successor, national security advisor Condoleezza Rice, at the White House. Annan said that Iraq's interim government still must deal with the security and political environment, and the United Nations was assisting Baghdad in trying to ensure Iraqi voters participated in the elections. "The more inclusive the process, the likelier that the results will not be contested," Annan said. Shiites Moslems, who compose a majority in Iraq and were repressed by the minority Sunni Moslems under the toppled regime of Saddam Hussein, are competing for power with Sunnis and ethnic Kurds. Iraq is due to hold its first election on January 30, and the United States is bolstering the military presence in the country to provide security. The United Nations is leading the international effort to help set up and run the elections. --More 2245 Local Time 1945 GMT
