BEIJING, June 1 (Xinhuanet) -- The nomination of Iraqi president by the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) has been postponed, an IGC member said Monday.

    The US-appointed council has delayed a meeting until Tuesday tonominate a new president to take over power from the US-led occupation force, Mahmoud Othman, a Kurd in the 22-member IGC, said in a TV interview.

    The postponement took place amid a series of bloodshed. In Baghdad, a car bomb killed at least four people and wounded dozens more Monday, underlining fears of a surge in bloodshed with just 30 days before the end of the US-led occupation.     

    INTRIGUE OVER IRAQ PRESIDENT: TWO CONTENDERS RUMORED TO BE RULED OUT     

    The postponement came amid a fierce power struggle between the coalition and the IGC as coalition officials accused council members of "hijacking" the process of shaping the transitional government.

    The IGC favored its current rotating president Ghazi al-Yawar, a prominent tribal leader who is supported by various ethnic and religious groups. But US overseer Paul Bremer and UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi were pressuring the IGC members to back Adnan Pachachi, an81-year-old former foreign minister, Othman said.

    A senior coalition official said the two main Sunni Muslim contenders, Pachachi and Yawar, had been ruled out for the largely ceremonial post.

    "It is completely fabricated that it is a toss-up between Yawarand Pachachi," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

    "We are looking for the president and two thirds of the new ministers to be non-Governing Council members," he said, referringto Iraq's US-installed interim leadership.

    One council source suggested that Saad al-Janabi was being considered as a third possible candidate.

    With security being a prime problem facing the interim government, Janabi comes from a tribe with connections in the troubled city of Fallujah and Al-Anbar province, one of the most violent areas during the US-led occupation.

    Within two weeks of the fall of Saddam's regime, Janabi had returned to Baghdad and created his own political faction, the Iraqi Republican Group, in an effort to muscle in on Iraq's post-political landscape.

    The offices of Pachachi and Yawar said they knew nothing about the report. Neither did Governing Council spokesman Hamid al-Kifaey.

    "I am not aware of any candidate other than Adnan Pachachi and Ghazi al-Yawar. I know that anyone can stand and apply for the jobof president. But as of yet, there has been nobody," he said.

    Asked about a possible third candidate earlier, a UN spokesman said it "would not be helpful" to comment on the process while it was still ongoing.

    Some participants in the discussions believe the coalition is determined to distance the incoming interim government from the council, which has failed to command grassroots Iraqi support.

    "The Americans are not stupid. ... They want to avoid the future cabinet being linked to the old executive at all costs," one source close to the talks said.

    Iyad Allawi, a secular Shiite who had lived in the United States, was selected Friday as prime minister.     

    MORE DIE IN CLASHES AND BOMBINGS     

    Talks on the formation of an interim government are taking place against a backdrop of continuing violence despite efforts tosecure a truce between coalition forces and the militia of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

    US troops clashed Monday with Shiite militiamen in fighting that killed two Americans and strained a cease-fire called last week around the holy cities of Kufa and Najaf.

    In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near US coalition headquarters,killing at least four Iraqis and injuring 25.

    Two other American soldiers died over the weekend in separate attacks, the US military said. The four Iraqis killed in the car-bombing included the sister of two former Iraqi presidents, according to neighbors and a relative.

    Ambulances rushed to the scene of the blast in Baghdad's Harithiyah district, about 500 meters (yards) from where the head of the Governing Council, Izzadine Saleem, was assassinated in a car bombing May 17. It was not clear whether Monday's bombing was caused by a suicide attacker.

    Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said four people were killed and 25 wounded. The blast showered the area with debris and bits of human flesh. At least one body lay on the street, covered with plastic sheets. US troops fired into the air to disperse the crowds.

    The fighting in Kufa broke out Sunday night and lasted until early Monday. Shiite attackers loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ambushed a patrol with small arms fire, killing one US soldier and fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a tank, killing another American, according to the US military.

    At least one Iraqi was killed and eight injured, hospital officials said. Al-Sadr's militia often avoids taking its casualties to government hospitals for fear of arrest.

    Shiite militiamen accused US troops of firing near the city's main mosque, damaging its outer marble wall. The bodies of two slain militiamen lay on the mosque's blood-soaked floor, covered with blankets.     

    EFFORTS TO BUILD TRUCE     

    Hoping to save the cease-fire, Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi and other Shiite leaders held talks with representatives of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Sunday night and announced a proposal Monday to shore up the fraying peace accord.

    Shiite leaders called for an end to "aggressive patrolling" by the Americans, limiting their movement so that they would not pass near the holy sites in Najaf and its twin city Kufa, Najaf Governor Adnan al-Zurufi told reporters during a news conference.

    In exchange, those militiamen who are not from Najaf and Kufa would go home and the others would keep off the streets.

    Iraqi police would take over security in Najaf, and there would be no joint US -Iraqi patrols. A Shiite observer team would monitor compliance, Chalabi said.

    "The preliminary agreement is already there," al-Zurufi said. "We're waiting for an official response from the high command."

    While the Americans consider the proposal, al-Sadr's fighters will reduce their presence on the streets of both Najaf and Kufa for the next 48 hours, said Ali al-Jhoriafi, an official close to the talks.

    The Shiite leaders also hope the Americans will cut back on patrols during the same time.

    Coalition spokesman Dan Senor characterized the talks as a stepforward, even if no deal is reached.

    Shiite politicians want to bolster the agreement with al-Sadr, trying to secure a deal to end the two-month-old standoff with US soldiers in Najaf and Kufa, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, and restore government control there.

    Troubles emerged in the sacred Shiite cities after occupation authorities cracked down on al-Sadr's militia in April, closing his newspaper and announcing an arrest warrant against him for the murder of a rival cleric. Al-Sadr's supporters took to the streets,vowing to protect him.

    Under a deal announced Thursday with Shiite leaders, al-Sadr agreed to send his fighters home and start negotiations over the future of his militia and the arrest warrant with other religious leaders. US troops agreed to halt offensive operations around Najaf and Kufa.

    However, the Americans say there has been little sign that al-Sadr has complied with the terms of the agreement, and the continuing clashes have increased in intensity in the days following the announcement. Enditem