UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations official charged with election assistance yesterday threw a barb at American troops in Iraq, accusing them of conducting an “overenthusiastic” campaign to promote this weekend’s Iraqi election.

The chief of the U.N. Electoral Assistance Division, Carina Perelli, was asked in a press conference about reports that American troops helped Iraqi officials distribute information on the electoral process to Iraqi citizens, and encouraged them to participate in Sunday’s vote.

Ms. Perelli said that U.N. officials spent time “asking, begging military commanders precisely not to do that,” but the time has not been well-spent. The Americans were “overenthusiastic in trying to help out with these elections,” she said. “We have basically been saying they should try to minimize their participation because this is an Iraqi process.”

At the same time, she acknowledged that the U.N. itself is “not happy” with the way information on the election was disseminated. There are 22 U.N. election experts stationed in Baghdad as part of an international group of 40 election workers advising the Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission, she said.

American officials scoffed at the criticism. “There are 150,000 U.S. troops as part of the coalition in Iraq, who are there to do a number of things but primary among them is to help the Iraqis hold their own election,” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Barry Venable told The New York Sun. He acknowledged Americans helped distribute information on voter registration, but added that it was done at the Iraqi Electoral Commission’s request.

Iraq’s U.N. ambassador, Samir Sumaidaie, told CNN that American troops did not try to influence the outcome of the election or promote any specific candidate. Therefore, he said, he saw nothing wrong in their activity.

The undersecretary-general for political affairs, Kieran Prendergast, expressed support for the upcoming election, adding that even if there are disruptions, it is not the “be-all and end-all” of the process. The assembly that will be elected this weekend will prepare Iraq’s permanent constitution, he noted. Then, in October, Iraqis will have to vote in a referendum to accept or reject the constitution, and another general election is scheduled for December.

Following last year’s spats between the U.N. and the Bush administration, Mr. Prendergast attempted to strike a conciliatory tone, and the U.N. later issued a clarification in which a spokesman said Ms. Perelli misspoke in the press conference. She “did not intend to criticize the U.S. military’s profile,” the statement said.

Mr. Prendergast endorsed the president’s contempt of insurgents who use violence to disrupt the election. “Nothing justifies intimidating or murdering voters, electoral workers, or candidates,” he said, adding, “We encourage all Iraqis to exercise their democratic rights.”

This view was somewhat qualified later by Ms. Perelli, however. Iraqis, she said, will have to “decide by themselves whether they consider that this election is important enough, is valid enough, is legitimate enough in order to risk their lives to go and vote.”