UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned the United States, Britain and Iraq that a planned assault on Fallujah could undermine planned elections in January, diplomats said.
Reports of the warning, sent in a letter to all three Sunday, emerged as Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi again warned that time was running out to avoid a full-on attack on the city, a stronghold of rebel insurgents.
A western diplomat familiar with the correspondence who asked not to be identified said all three nations were "furious" about the letter, which also warned that an attack on Fallujah could alienate some Iraqis.
Speaking to reporters, Annan declined to comment on the letter but suggested that the offensive would make it harder for some Iraqis to accept any result from the election.
"Of course there are some extremists whom one can never get into the process, but the more inclusive the process, the greater the possibility that it will succeed and the results of the elections will be productive," he said.
He said efforts had to be made "to win the hearts and minds of the people and to draw them in, so that at the end of the process, at the end of the elections, it is their product and people who have been involved."
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher acknowledged differences with Annan and said Secretary of State Colin Powell had spoken to the UN chief after the letter was received.
"In this regard, frankly, we differ. The Iraqi government has made very clear that they do have a strategy for resolving the problems of these towns like Fallujah," Boucher said.
"Restoration of peace in Fallujah and other towns is very important to them and to us, and it needs to be done soon for the sake of the people who live there who deserve a chance to participate in the political process," he said.
But the Annan letter appeared to highlight the difference between the US-led coalition and the United Nations over how to handle the security threat in Iraq.
Annan, a vocal critic of the US-led war, has agreed to help Iraqis prepare for the landmark election but has limited the number of staff on the ground because of security concerns.
His top political official, Kieran Prendergast, said any comparison between the effectiveness of the UN mission to prepare the polls in January and the number of personnel was "too simple a view, and too crude."
He added: "Size doesn't always matter. I think we're actually trying to concentrate on the quality of our input."
The US military pounded suspected insurgent positions in Fallujah with artillery fire late Friday as remaining residents were urged to leave amid more signs of an all-out assault against the rebel city.
The US military has tightened the noose around the insurgency bastion west of Baghdad in recent days as thousands of US soldiers and marines backed by members of Iraq's fledgling security forces geared for an offensive.
US planes have also been dropping leaflets urging residents still in the city to leave.
Thousands have fled Fallujah since a US campaign of air strikes started months ago in the hunt for Islamic militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his followers, who are believed to use the city as an operating base.
Zarqawi, a Jordanian national who is Iraq's most wanted man, is blamed for some of the worst bombings and kidnappings in the country since last year's US-led invasion. US and Iraqi troops have encircled Fallujah since mid-October.
In Brussels, Allawi said the "window really is closing" for a peace settlement with the insurgents in the city.
"The Fallujah people, most of them, have left Fallujah. The insurgents and terrorists are still operating there," he said. "We hope they will come to their senses. Otherwise we have to bring them to face the justice."
11/05/2004 - 23:55 GMT - AFP