Violence keeps UN expansion in Iraq on hold -Annan

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 8 (Reuters) UN hopes of stepping up its activities in Iraq are still on hold due to the violence across the country and the risk of UN staff becoming targets, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said.

Efforts to reinforce the world body's presence in satellite offices in Basra in the south and Erbil in the north appear to have failed because no country will provide the aircraft needed to ferry staff safely in and out of those cities, Annan said yesterday.

Despite December parliamentary elections which took place in relative calm, ''the organization's presence and its ability to operate effectively in Iraq remain severely constrained by the security environment,'' Annan said in his latest quarterly report to the Security Council on U.N. operations in Iraq.

The return to Iraqi self-rule and stepped-up efforts by Iraqi and US-led forces to maintain security ''have been accompanied by the development of an increasingly complex armed opposition capable of carrying out a consistently high level of violent activity across the country,'' he said.

Violence is reaching new heights as ''repeated bombings against civilians, mosques and more recently against churches are creating fear, animosity and feelings of revenge within the communities,'' Annan said. Armed groups have killed thousands of Iraqi security and police officers in recent months, he said.

Annan last year asked the United States, Britain and 10 other nations to provide aircraft to transport U.N. staff to the new satellite offices because Iraqi roads were too risky.

But there have been no positive responses so far, he said.

There are currently 262 UN staff in Iraq, about 160 of whom provide security for the rest, UN officials said. That is about the same number as four months ago.

The total includes eight in Basra and six in Erbil, with the rest in Baghdad, the officials said.

While the U.N. mission's mandate includes reconstruction, development and humanitarian aid as well as political support, many mission activities are left to national and international partners due to the security situation, Annan said.

He urged both Iraqi and international security forces to respect Iraqi civilians' rights and observe international law.

''Ultimately, the best way to address the security situation beyond the training of Iraqi security forces is a credible and inclusive political process, as well as the quick improvement of the basic living conditions of the Iraqi people,'' he said.

Reuters VJ VP0555