protected "green zone" in the Iraqi capital. Annan last week decided to open new U.N. offices in Erbil, in northern Iraq, and Basra in the south, to expand U.N. assistance to the elections. He said the Iraqi people would have the first chance in decades to democratically elect their leaders and determine their future. He called for reconciliation among the various parties and sectors in the Iraqi society. "So,I would wish them a peaceful, democratic and participatory elections, as we move into the next year," he said. The U.N. reported in the meantime that it has begun distributing food and non-food items to over 36,000 families displaced by the fighting in Fallujah. The programme was carried by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration at the request of Baghdad. --More 2319 Local Time 2019 GMT
