In his first foreign trip since the start of war, he is seeking to relaunch transatlantic dialogue cut short by the conflict, they said as Powell met his European counterparts in Brussels.

"We will remain cautious, but if there is one American official who the Europeans want to get on with, its Colin Powell," said one diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The US secretary of state, who has been eclipsed by military men since war erupted two weeks ago, is staging a "comeback" for diplomacy, adopting a markedly conciliatory tone.

"I want to hear from them their ideas with respect to reconstruction," he said, ahead of the meeting of EU and NATO foreign ministers.

"I want to hear their ideas as to contributions that the EU can make and NATO might be able to make and about the appropriate role of the UN and other international institutions in the rebuilding of Iraq," he said.

Powell's hastily-arranged trip, which included stops in Turkey and Belgrade, is his first since the Iraq crisis finally spiralled from diplomacy into war on March 20.

The talks with European states - traditional large contributors in post-conflict situations - comes as hopes for a short war have suffered back, while the task of rebuilding Iraq appears immense.

Powell has been been criticized for not travelling abroad enough -- he has left the United States only three times since the start of the year.

In Brussels he was making up for lost time: as well as joint gatherings with his EU and NATO counterparts, Powell scheduled at least 20 one-on-one meetings.

These included talks with France's Dominique de Villepin as well as Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, whose countries have led opposition to the war along with Germany. The US is backed by a group led by Britain and including Spain and Italy.

Powell, although having hardened his stance in recent months in the run-up to the Iraq war, is still seen in Europe as a relatively moderate force in the US admistration, compared to the aggressive hawks like Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

And Europeans are keen not to alienate him, seeing him as a way to have their message heard in Washington at a time when President George W. Bush's administration is deeply split between internationalists and those who want the United States to assert its supremacy.

Powell "is one of the rare pro-Europeans in the American administration, and it would do no good to weaken him," said a European diplomat.

While moderate in tone and wanting the UN to play a role, Powell has nonetheless toughened his message, insisting that the United States should retain a "dominant" role in Iraq's post-war transition.

The secretary of state, a four-star general who oversaw the first US-led offensive in the Gulf in 1991 and later served as the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has also backed plans for Iraq to be placed under a military administration immediately after the war -- an idea denounced by anti-war Europeans -- while insisting the transition period into a civilian government should happen as soon as possible.

One of Powell's first meetings Thursday was with his French counterpart. A diplomat said afterwards that the talks had been "friendly, frank, and turned towards the future."

SPACE.WIRE