UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday he hoped to meet this weekend with foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council as part of the effort to bridge differences on the way forward in Iraq.

　　"I am still hoping to have a meeting with the foreign ministers in Geneva on Saturday. There is one more phone call that I have to make later today to put everything on track," Annan told a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York.

　　That meeting, planned for Saturday in Geneva, as well as the one he held Monday in New York with the council's full membership, are all part of a "solution to the issues of Iraq that we are discussing now," he said.

　　"My own sense is that Iraq is of such importance that all of uswill have to find a way of working together to stabilize Iraq. It also means that countries have to listen to each other," he added.

　　Annan's proposal came after the Security Council started to discuss a new draft resolution put forward by the United States on Iraq, which seeks more international help to secure and rebuild Iraq.

　　Last week's preliminary discussions showed council divisions over an expansion of the UN role in Iraq and a timetable for the recovery of Iraqi sovereignty.

　　"The question of greater United Nations involvement (in Iraq), or the United Nations playing a leading role in the political area, is ... something that several member states have put forward, believing that this will bring greater legitimacy to the process and acceptability to the region," Annan said.

　　"It is not so much for the United Nations to go in and take over the administration and management of Iraq, but for us to ensure that we accelerate the establishment of a government and the transfer of authority and to have the Iraqis run their own affairs, as indicated in the Security Council resolution," he added.

　　The Secretary-General noted that in situations where UN member states have come together to deal with a crisis situation and establish a new political order, the United Nations has often run the political facilitation process and that his special representative has often led that process.

　　"If member states, by coming together to deal with Iraq, want to see that model -- whether the model of Afghanistan, Kosovo or East Timor -- they are all on the table for discussion, and the United Nations has had good experience in these areas," he said.

　　Annan expressed the hope that a compromise resolution could be achieved through frank and open discussions. Enditem