Both he and a British spokesman minimized reported differences between the United States and Britain over how important a role the United Nations should play.

Speaking on Air Force One on his way with President George W. Bush to a summit with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Northern Ireland, Powell said about setting up the interim authority: "We'll be sending people over this week to begin the process of bringing together a group that would constitute the authority."

He said the military campaign against the regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was "going exceptionally well" but warned about giving a timetable for how soon it would be over.

Britain reportedly wants the United Nations to oversee any interim Iraqi military administration while Washington seeks initial US-British military control, but Powell tried to downplay differences in their positions.

"There isn't as much debate and disagreement about this as you might read in the newspapers," he said.

Powell said that when fighting ends "the military commander must be in charge for a period of time to stabilize the country."

But he added: "We hope to quickly establish an interim authority that can show to the people of the world, and especially the people of Iraq, that it is our intention" to hand power over to Iraqis as quickly as possible.

A spokesman for Blair said there were "practical commonsense issues that have to be sorted out" and urged journalists to wait until talks here were finished.

He said: "You can be assured that anything we will do will be within international law."

SPACE.WIRE