Powell Visits Iraq in Sign of Larger Role

In a reflection of the growing role of State Department diplomacy in crafting postwar strategy, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell met here Sunday with emerging Iraqi leaders to discuss the next phase of the difficult political transition.

On his first visit to Baghdad, Powell repeatedly stressed that the United States will have “no greater honor” than turning over full authority to the Iraqi people as soon as several steps, including writing a new constitution and holding elections, are finished. “We’re not hanging on for the sake of hanging on,” he said during a news conference after a full day of talks.

But Powell’s three-day diplomatic blitz in Geneva and Iraq has been dogged by conflicts and uncertainty -- among both veto-wielding U.N. members and Iraqis -- over how and how quickly the transition can be achieved, given a host of problems that have in effect created a Catch-22.

After lunch with Powell, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Iraqis want independence and a return of sovereignty “as soon as possible.” He added, however, that the Iraqi Governing Council sees “eye to eye” with the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority on the possibility of a handover by the middle or end of next year, which echoed comments of other U.S.-appointed officials on the council.

The handover, Zebari said, will depend on the security situation, which now seems an open-ended problem. “This is a transitional period, and we need to see the new Iraq stable, peaceful, prosperous” before Iraqis reassume full authority.

The dangers and dilemmas were underscored by the death Sunday of another U.S. soldier just an hour before Powell’s arrival. The soldier’s vehicle was attacked in Fallouja, about 30 miles west of Baghdad.

Powell is increasingly being brought back into the process of sorting out the transition, which also represents the beginning of an exit strategy for the United States. For the past five months, the Pentagon dominated postwar discussions, often ignoring State Department efforts. That sparked an interagency battle leading to mixed results on the ground.

“We have more and more of a role,” said a senior State Department official in Baghdad. “It’s more of an evolution than a shift. After the war, the president is going back to his foreign policy agenda.”

But he acknowledged, “It’s a reflection of the situation we’re in.”

Two key developments in framing the transition process are expected to unfold in the next two weeks.

Powell said that today representatives of the 15 Security Council members will take up negotiations on a contentious new resolution that the United States hopes will put the U.N. imprimatur on Iraq’s transition -- and encourage other nations to provide additional troops or funds for reconstruction.

The meeting will expand talks begun in Geneva on Saturday among the foreign ministers of the United States, France, Russia, Britain and China that failed to bridge deep gaps over the timing and order of the transition. The Bush administration hopes a vote can be held during the opening session of the U.N. General Assembly next week.

In Iraq, meanwhile, the preparatory group for a constitutional committee is nearing closure on discussions of how the next big step in the transition should unfold and how long it will take.

“From that constitution, the people will be given a chance to express their will as to how they will be governed. This will lead to a democratic Iraq that we will be most pleased to pass full authority to in due course,” Powell said.

Despite the serious security problems in Iraq, Powell said he was “deeply impressed” with “astounding” progress on the formation of everything from city councils to PTAs.

But in the first of his two days in Iraq, Powell did not leave the small security zone around Saddam Hussein’s former Republican Palace that serves as headquarters for the Coalition Provisional Authority.

Powell denied that he was seeing too small a slice of life in Iraq to make an accurate assessment of the situation. “I think I’ve been around long enough to understand the things I’m being told and to see behind the things I’m being told,” he said.

Pressed on not talking to anyone beyond the circle of people who support the occupation, the secretary of State said he was “not going to go around town and ask people if they’re unhappy, come forward.”

Powell had lengthy meetings with the 25-member governing council as well as the new Baghdad City Council. He had dinner with Hussein Sadr, a prominent cleric in the majority Shiite Muslim community. Sadr’s cousin, cleric Muqtader Sadr, has been a leading opponent of the U.S. occupation.

After morning meetings with the top two U.S. military officials in charge of Iraq, Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez and Army Gen. John Abizaid, Powell said that the security situation “remains challenging.” But he expressed confidence that commanders “understand the environment.”

The major new threat, he added, comes from foreign extremists estimated to number between a few hundred and 2,000.

“We’ll be able to deal with it in due course,” Powell said.

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Times staff writer Alissa J. Rubin contributed to this report.

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In stories after April 9, 2004, Shiite cleric Muqtader Sadr is correctly referred to as Muqtada Sadr.

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