"I think it's important that false debates are set aside," Downer told reporters following talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

"The United Nations ... are not saying they want to take over the whole of Iraq. Equally, I don't think the Americans are saying they don't want to see any UN involvement in Iraq in the post-war environment," Downer said.

Downer's meeting with Annan came a day after talks with President George W. Bush and senior members of the US administration in Washington.

Australia and Britain, key members of the US-led coalition waging war in Iraq, have been pushing for a significant role for the United Nations when hostilities cease.

Angered at the Security Council's failure to support the Iraq war, some Bush administration officials have, however, balked at such a role for the world body and hope to transfer power to an approved Iraqi leadership structure instead.

Downer said the transitional process in Iraq would have three stages with the coalition forces, "in particular the United States," becoming the "power in situ" as soon as the regime of Saddam Hussein had been overthrown.

Control would then be handed to an as-yet undefined interim administration charged with overseeing the ultimate transition to a government that carried the legitimacy of the Iraqi people and the international community.

Downer said the UN would have an essential part to play in that process and added that a "major effort" was needed to build bridges in the Security Council with a view to passing resolutions that would clearly articulate the UN role.

Earlier Thursday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell had called in Brussels for a "partnership" with the United Nations to rebuild Iraq and said Washington looked forward to the appointment of a special UN coordinator or representative on Iraq.

Welcoming Powell's comments, Downer rejected suggestions that any such UN official would merely be a pawn in the hands of the United States.

"I don't think anyone is suggesting that, if there were a UN special coordinator, then he would be working for the United States," the minister said.

"He would be a servant of the secretary general or the Security Council, or both, and not the servant of any one country."

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