Profile: Iraq presidency rivals

Pachachi is said to be the US and UN's favourite candidate

The deepening disagreement between the US-led coalition and Iraqis over who should be Iraq's president has centred on two men.

Most members of the Governing Council are said to favour their current head, Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, a businessman and tribal leader who has been sharply critical of the US-led coalition.

But former Foreign Minister Adnan Pachachi, also a Council member, is said to be the preferred candidate of the US-led authorities and the United Nations.

Both men are American-educated moderate Sunnis and formers exiles with strong ties to Washington.

Elder statesman

At 81, Adnan Pachachi is considered one of Iraq's elder statesmen and is one of the Council's rotating presidents.

An elegant figure in Western business suits, he has close ties with the US - President George W Bush described him as "one of Iraq's most respected leaders" in his 2004 State of the Union speech, at which he was First Lady Laura Bush's special guest.

The scion of a long-established political family, he was Iraq's foreign minister and ambassador to the United Nations before the Baath party coup in 1968.

He lived in exile in three decades in Abu Dhabi and returned to Iraq in 2003 after the war, when he founded the Alliance of Independent Democrats.

He gained degrees from the American University in Beirut and from Georgetown University in Washington.

While broadly supportive of the US-led coalition and the presence of their troops, he has expressed concern about the lack of clarity in the draft UN handover plan on the relationship between the Iraqi government and the multi-national force.

He has also expressed concern about the lack of control of the oil revenues.

Tribal leader

Despite his criticisms, Yawer also has close ties to the US

His main rival for the post, Ghazi Yawer, the current head of the Governing Council, has also criticised the US-drafted resolution, complaining it gives Iraqis too little control of over the coalition forces that will remain in Iraq.

Nothing less than "full and complete sovereignty" would be acceptable for the interim government, he has said.

A prominent tribal leader from the northern city of Mosul who generally appears in tradition Arab dress, he has wide support from various ethnic and religious groups.

He studied engineering at Georgetown University in Washington, and for many years ran a telecoms company in Saudi Arabia.

In an interview with the major London-based Arabic newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat, he said he would only accept the post of president if it came with real powers.

He also said is was "totally unacceptable" for the US to remain in Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace presidential compound and convert it to their embassy, as some reports have suggested.

"This is like someone who pokes his finger in another's eye," he said.