By Justin Webb BBC Washington correspondent

Powell: More sympathetic to UN role

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said a UN role was not currently under discussion, but Secretary of State Colin Powell said a dialogue on the UN role had already begun.

The subject is likely to be high on the agenda when President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair meet in Northern Ireland on Monday.

Mr Blair wants the UN to be involved early in the provision of aid and reconstruction assistance, but also - crucially - in the provision of a new government for Iraq.

The Bush administration appears to be as divided as ever.

Rice: UN role not being discussed

Ms Rice said Iraq was unique, and it was natural that those who had sacrificed blood and life would play a leading role in the aftermath.

She did not dismiss the UN, but she said its role was not currently under discussion.

In other words, it would become involved only after a new government was set up.

But Mr Powell, speaking shortly afterwards, said: "We are at the beginning of a process of dialogue to determine what the appropriate role of the UN should be; the UN will be a partner in all of this."

Mr Blair and Mr Bush will certainly return to this potentially divisive subject in their talks next week, with Mr Blair, as so often in the past, hoping to persuade the president to listen to his secretary of state.