U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan promised to name a chief envoy for Iraq shortly but left open a return to Baghdad of U.N. political staff soon, suggesting they might operate outside the country.

Under pressure from the United States, Iraqis and others to send international staff back into Baghdad, U.N. officials said on Monday Annan was looking for a representative of stature. The chief envoy might not play an important role initially but could have major responsibilities after an Iraqi interim government takes over in June, they said.

Annan withdrew foreign political staff from Baghdad after the Aug. 19 bombing that killed 22 people, including his special representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello. He said he would name a replacement "in the not too distant future."

"So, if the situation improves, we will be ready to go back," Annan told reporters on Monday. "But we don't need to be in Iraq 100 percent to do what we can do or offer assistance. So we are looking at what we can do outside and cross-border and eventually what we can do inside."

Since the United States and the Iraqi Governing Council announced last week they wanted an interim Iraqi Government in place by June, Annan has come under pressure to play a political role.

Calls for the United Nations to return to Iraq have come in the last few days from Secretary of State Colin Powell, Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.

"I think it's time now with this new plan for the United Nations to determine whether or not circumstances will permit it to play a more active role inside the country," Powell said in Washington.

"We want the U.N. to play a role and it is part of our plan in moving forward." Powell added.

Annan said he also spoke to Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader who is this month's president of Iraq's interim Governing Council. Talabani told him the Governing Council would "need U.N. assistance and advice in implementing the new decisions which have been taken," Annan reported.

On Monday, the deputy U.S. national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, came to New York to brief Annan on the new American timetable for ending the occupation.

But Annan repeated that an October Security Council resolution called on the United Nations to play a role in Iraq "as circumstances permit," a reference to safety conditions. He is under pressure from senior U.N. officials not to expose staff to harm.

The Bush administration's decision to speed the transfer of power won praise from Annan last week. He had long agreed with France, Germany and others in advocating quicker restoration of Iraqi sovereignty.

Annan has never championed a U.N. administration or military role for Iraq, as in Kosovo or East Timor. But he has argued that the United Nations play a role independent from the coalition ushering in democracy in Iraq.

The Iraqi Governing Council is required to submit its new plans to the U.N. Security Council by Dec. 15. But diplomats said they expected the report sooner, perhaps as early as this week, and that the 15-nation council might adopt a resolution or a statement endorsing the plan.

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