Concern at Iraq election moves

Plans for the United Nations to send experts to Iraq to examine possibilities for holding free and fair elections by the end of June come under scrutiny in the Iraqi and other Arab press.

Some commentators see the continuing unrest in the country as posing a real obstacle to any UN initiative, while others question Washington's commitment to any involvement by the world body.

Baghdad's Al-Zaman warns that without the support of all Iraqis, the UN mission is unlikely to make much headway.

"Without such support, the international organization will be unable to come up with proposals for transferring power to Iraqis by next June."

Iraq is in a sorry state Kuwait's Al-Watan

"UN political involvement in Iraq has long been unacceptable to some influential forces because of international rivalries that emerged against the background of Iraq war and are still raging."

The warning is echoed by Lebanon's Al-Mustaqbal. "Even if elections were carried out under the supervision of the UN and international organisations, they would not succeed unless the right atmosphere prevailed and the society wanted them."

'Sorry state'

The Kuwaiti daily Al-Watan laments that "Iraq is in a sorry state. It needs local and international aid, particularly military protection to guarantee its territorial integrity and overcome its calamity".

We are ushering in a new democratic era in Iraq Baghdad's Al-Nahdah

But Baghdad's Al-Nahdah is more optimistic, though remaining cautious.

"We are ushering in a new democratic era in Iraq," it believes, while calling on all sides of the political spectrum to "set an example of coexistence and responsiveness" and be "democratic in thought and practice".

Another Baghdad paper, Al-Sa'ah sets out what it views as Iraq's "sole democratic option".

"We want an interim national assembly elected by the Iraqi people through direct elections and by secret ballot within the set timetable, to hand over power and sovereignty to Iraqis before July 2004."

US worries

In Jordan, Al-Dustur reveals its distrust of Washington. "The US, which is the only player in the Iraqi theatre, is worried that its promise of democracy for the Iraqi people will change into a tool that will destroy its influence and control."

The gravest part of the current political crisis is playing the ethnic card Baghdad's Al-Sharq al-Awsat

The Baghdad edition of the London basedAl-Sharq al-Awsat fears that ethnic divisions could upset plans to bring democracy to Iraq.

"The gravest part of the current political crisis is playing the ethnic card... Loyalty to a sect rather than country could open deep cracks in the structure of a society still bleeding from its sanctions, dictatorship and occupation wounds."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.