UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Monday that it is possible to hold nationwide elections in Iraq by the end of 2004.

    In a report to the UN Security Council, Annan said, "If work was started immediately and the required political consensus was reached fairly rapidly, it would be possible to hold elections by the end of 2004."

    The report contained findings by a fact-finding mission, led by Annan's special adviser Lakhdar Brahimi, which spent more than one week in mid-February assessing the feasibility of holding elections in Iraq. Enditem