Hours later, Annan announced he would make a statement "shortly" on whether he would dispatch a fact-finding mission to Iraq on the US plans to restore Iraqi-self rule through an appointed body by July 1.

On the ground, more Japanese troops arrived in the region on a controversial humanitarian mission while millions of Shiites headed for main weekly prayers after a week of demonstrations to demand the elections.

The country was still reeling from 24 hours of guerrilla activity ending Thursday, which claimed the lives of nine Iraqis in a series of devastating attacks that also killed two US soldiers.

In Washington, Lakhdar Brahimi, a widely respected diplomat newly appointed as Annan's special advisor, met with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, national security advisor Condoleezza Rice, and her top Middle East aide Robert Blackwell.

"They talked about the way forward on Iraq, particularly in the next six months, and ideas for the political transition," said one senior administration official.

Credited with paving the way to the historic Afghanistan constitution agreed earlier this month, Brahimi is seen as having the respect and negotiating skill that could smooth the way to an agreement on the handover of power.

The US-backed plan to install an unelected government by June 30 has drawn opposition from the pre-eminent religious leader of the Shiites, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Sistani wants direct elections and has drawn tens of thousands of protestors onto the streets of Iraq in support, throwing a wrench into a plan agreed late last year with the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.

But Sistani has indicated he will agree to a compromise if the United Nations sends a team of experts to Iraq that concludes it would be impossible to organise free and fair elections before the handover deadline.

Annan said Monday he would consider sending the team after meeting in New York with a delegation from the Governing Council as well as the US overseer in Iraq, Paul Bremer, and the top British envoy here, Jeremy Greenstock.

"We are continuing our reflection and analysis and I'll be making a statement shortly," Annan told AFP after speaking Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He did not elaborate.