WASHINGTON, April 27: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Monday the still-undefined government due to take power in Iraq on July 1 would have to give up some of its sovereignty to allow a free hand to US-led forces.

Mr Powell said it would take time for the occupying forces, which are fighting sharp challenges to their control in the cities of Fallujah and Najaf, to establish security and that the new government would need their help.

The resistance, which has made April the deadliest month for US troops since the occupation a year ago, poses a difficult challenge for Washington: putting down the militants without alienating the population.

Mr Powell made clear Washington would wait at least "a little bit of time" before deciding whether to use force in Fallujah, where a crowd mutilated four US contractors and dragged their bodies through the streets on March 31.

In Paris, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday France wanted a full transfer of authority to an interim Iraqi government. France reiterated its line on the transfer of power in Iraq following Mr Powell's comments on Monday, and after the United Nations' special envoy to Iraq said on Saturday it would not be easy to meet a June 30 deadline to form the interim government.

"I refer you to what we have always advocated, which is the restoration of the effective sovereignty of Iraq in the hands of this transition government," French Foreign Ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous told a regular press briefing.

"We want there to be a break, a psychological shock, that is, for the Iraqi population to once more have the impression that it is master of its own destiny," he said. Mr Powell accused the guerillas of storing weapons in mosques. "It really is a disgrace that these thugs are using places of worship. They are desecrating their own religion by the use of mosques for this kind of purpose."

The United States has placed much of its hopes for ultimately extricating itself from Iraq in the hands of UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who is crafting plans to pick an interim government. US-blessed plans for a system of caucuses were rejected by Shia leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.

Critics of the handover plan say the United States is not really restoring sovereignty to Iraq, which will remain under occupation because of the roughly 135,000 American troops in the country. Some governments say they will only keep their forces if invited by the new government.

Colin Powell, who has previously said Iraqi forces must serve under US command, said he hoped Iraqis would embrace whatever government emerges before elections can be held. "I hope they will understand that in order for this government to get up and running - to be effective - some of its sovereignty will have to be given back, if I can put it that way, or limited by them," Mr Powell said.

"It's sovereignty but (some) of that sovereignty they are going to allow us to exercise on their behalf and with their permission," he added. "It is not as if we are seizing anything away from them. -Reuters