UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today that he expected the United Nations to play an important role in rebuilding Iraq after the war and said this would bring legitimacy to the effort.
Mr Annan also announced he was naming Mr Rafeeuddin Ahmed, a Pakistani national and former associate administrator of the UN Development Program, as his special adviser on Iraq.
"I do expect the UN to play an important role, and the UN has had good experience in this area," Mr Annan told reporters ahead of a meeting of the UN Security Council that he had called to discuss the issue.
"There are lots of areas the UN can play a role, but above all the UN involvement does bring legitimacy, which is necessary for the country, for the region and for the peoples around the world," he said.