BELFAST, April 7: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Monday that Washington would send a team to Iraq this week to begin looking at what is needed to set up an interim Iraqi authority.

Speaking to reporters travelling to Northern Ireland with US President George Bush, Mr Powell said it was time to start talking about the future of Iraq because the military campaign was going “exceptionally well”.

He played down a transatlantic rift over the role the United Nations would play in post-war Iraq. “Let’s not fight that fight again. Let’s get back to the basic proposition that is before us, and that is to rebuild a country that has been devastated by war and Saddam,” said Mr Powell.

He said statements by Mr Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair at their Belfast summit would reflect that “the hostilities phase is coming to a conclusion, and it’s time for all of us to talk about the post-hostilities phase”.

Mr Powell stressed later that he was not suggesting the war was over.

Powell said he spent a good part of the weekend in discussions with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

“There isn’t as much debate and disagreement about this as you might read in the newspapers. There will be a role for the United Nations as a partner in this process,” Powell said.

Administration officials said they planned to seek the adoption of new U.N. Security Council resolutions that would affirm Iraq’s territorial integrity, ensure rapid delivery of humanitarian relief, and endorse a post-conflict administration for Iraq.

“We’ll be discussing with the Brits tonight and we’ll be discussing with other coalition partners and ultimately with the Security Council, the nature of U.N. resolutions that would lay out what the role of the United Nations would be. There’s no question that the United nations will play an important role,” Mr Powell said.

He made clear that the United States hoped to set up quickly an interim Iraqi authority made up of Iraqi exiles and people still living in the country. —Reuters