Bremer presents US self-rule blueprint to Iraq Council

Bremer met with the council as the military reported that a soldier was killed when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb, becoming the 400th US serviceman to die since the conflict began in March.

Details of Bremer's meeting with the Governing Council were not immediately available. Senior administration officials told The Associated Press that the proposed changes include holding elections in the first half of next year and forming a new government before a constitution is written, thus effectively granting Iraq sovereignty by the middle of 2004.

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Previously, the Bush administration has insisted that a new charter be written and adopted before general elections are held, a process that was likely to last at least another year.

Bremer met in Baghdad Friday with Jalal Talabani, the head of the Iraqi Governing Council, to discuss Washington's new policy proposals regarding a return of Iraqi sovereignty, said Mahmoud Othman, a member of the 24-seat body.

Othman told the AP that the Governing Council will study the proposals but may not agree with the details. "For our part, we have our own ideas," he said. "We will listen to Bremer and he will listen to us."

Winning speedy agreement on a new political course may take time because of conflicting interests among Iraq's diverse groups.

The changes include a proposal to accelerate Iraqi self-rule to as early as June, according to a report in The New York Times. The ideas appeared aimed at defusing growing attacks against coalition forces, which the military said continued to claim more victims.

The US soldier who was killed Saturday was traveling in a two-vehicle patrol. Two other soldiers were wounded in the blast, a military spokesman said.

On Friday, a 1st Armored Division soldier was killed in a roadside bombing in central Baghdad, the military said. Two other soldiers were wounded.

The US policy switch appeared aimed at defusing growing attacks against coalition forces. The insurgency, initially centered in the so-called Sunni Triangle of central Iraq, now appears to be spreading to the north and south of the country.