UNITED NATIONS, Jun 7 (IPS) - The 191-member General Assembly is expected to elect Iraq as chair of a key U.N. committee dealing with human rights and social development.

But the proposed election comes at a time when both the United Nations and several human rights organisations have accused successive U.S.-backed governments in Baghdad of either committing or ignoring human rights abuses in the military-occupied country. The 54-member Asian Group, of which Iraq is a member, endorsed the country's candidacy after politically-troubled Nepal was forced to withdraw its candidature last month, primarily because of its own poor human rights record and absence of rule of law.

"We had two evils before us," one Third World diplomat told IPS, "And we decided to choose the lesser evil....."

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