WASHINGTON, Nov 14: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Friday that a new leader for Iraq has not yet emerged, dealing a potential blow to members of the US-appointed interim governing council who may aspire to run the country.

Powell stressed that it would be entirely up to the Iraqi people to choose who they want in power in Baghdad, but he made clear that the United States had not yet been able to identify a figure who could wield national authority over Iraq’s often fractious ethnic and religious groups.

“We don’t see yet somebody like the gentleman who took over in Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, but a leader will emerge,” he said in an interview with a local television station in San Diego, California.

“You can’t keep a vacuum in political life for very long,” Powell said, according to a transcript released by the State Department.

He noted that the Iraqi Governing Council, the 24-member board Washington has chosen to work with the US-led occupation authority, did include people who could be considered regional leaders and that several Kurds in northern Iraq had emerged as effective administrators.

But he appeared to discount their ability to run the country after US forces leave, although he added quickly that he was sure people would come forward to assume responsibility as the security situation improves.

“As the country stabilizes and as we get the security situation more under control, people will step forward, people will stand up and want to play a leadership role,” Powell said.—AFP