HAIFA, Israel — The Universal House of Justice has announced that it has approved the requests of two of its members, Mr. Hooper Dunbar and Dr. Peter Khan, to relinquish their positions owing to their advanced age and the heavy burden of work involved in membership.

The announcement came in a letter addressed to all National Spiritual Assemblies of the Baha'i Faith around the world. In the letter, the House of Justice said the two men would continue to serve until completion of a by-election to replace them.

The nine members of each National Assembly serve as electors for the House of Justice, which is the head of the Baha'i Faith. The election will be conducted by mail, with results scheduled to be announced at Naw-Ruz, the Baha'i new year, on 21 March.

The regular election of the Universal House of Justice is every five years, when the members of the National Assemblies serve as delegates to the International Convention and vote for all nine members of the international governing body. The last election was in April 2008.

Dr. Khan was first elected to the House of Justice in 1987 and Mr. Dunbar in 1988.