The United States and United Nations were in a game of cat-and-mouse over UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's call for talks next month on the UN's future role in post-war Iraq. Annan's spokesman said there was still no word on whether the United States would take part while Washington insisted it had never received any invitation for the talks. The UN chief said last week he wanted to meet with the US-led coalition in Iraq and the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council to see how the United Nations fits in to plans for Iraq's transition to self-rule, due to happen in July. He suggested a January 15 date and demanded "clarity" about the UN role. Annan pulled his international staff out of Baghdad in October over security fears after a suicide bombing killed 22 people at the UN's Baghdad offices. Annan spokesman Fred Eckhard said Tuesday that the Governing Council wanted to postpone the meeting for a few days, with other UN sources saying the new date would be January 19. But there was no word from Washington, he said. "We have no acceptance yet on the part of the Coalition Provisional Authority" in Iraq, he said. Eckhard said Annan was "not insisting that it be a trilateral meeting. As long as he could speak with both parties, he'll be happy." But a US official at the United Nations told AFP: "We still haven't seen any invitation." Annan wants better security and a clear definition of the UN's responsibilities before sending staff back to Iraq. Washington says it favours a "vital" UN role but remains wary of the world body. In proposing the meeting on Thursday, Annan noted the agreement between Iraqi leaders and the US coalition on the handover of power in Baghdad at the end of June made no mention of the United Nations. But Iraq's interim foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari last week said the United Nations "failed" by resisting action to take down Saddam and said it should now be willing to take the same risks as Iraqis to help rebuild the nation. In Washington on Tuesday, State Department spokesman Louis Fintor recalled Zebari's demand and put the ball back in Annan's court, saying it was up to the UN chief to spell out what he wanted. "We appreciate the secretary general's interest in exploring ways to get the UN more actively involved in Iraq, particularly in light of the Iraqi foreign minister's forceful appeal," the spokesman said. He said Zebari had indicated that the Governing Council was keen to meet Annan's new Iraq envoy, Ross Mountain, but would not commit to any three-way talks with the secretary general. "If this meeting would foster that dialogue between the UN and Iraqis, and leads to a closer working relationship on the ground in Iraq itself, we would certainly be willing to play a supportive role," Fintor said. "We'll wait to get a better idea of what the secretary general has in mind before offering any additional comments." **PHOTO CAPTION*** The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. (AFP/File/Stan Honda)