"They want to impose someone on us. We won't accept this. This is not the way to hand over sovereignty," leading Kurdish member Mahmud Othman told AFP.

Bremer and UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi were said to prefer Adnan Pachachi, a Sunni moderate and former foreign minister during the 1960s.

But the Governing Council has rallied behind Yawar, a leader of the Shammari tribe, one of the largest in Iraq.

Othman said prime minister-apparent Iyad Allawi, whose nomination was announced Friday, was also a US choice.

"He was an American candidate. They brought him to the council. We supported him," he said. In return, the Governing Council wanted US officials to bless their choice of Yawar.

Amid the wrangling, Othman accused the United Nations and the coalition of conniving together at the expense of Iraqis, despite the fact that Brahimi was not at the meeting.

"They are at one with everything. They (the United Nations) are helping America and they are working for each other," he said.

"They just want to impose their will on us," he added, echoing fears from analysts that Iraq's first government after the US-led invasion will not be fully independent despite the scheduled June 30 transfer of power.

Talks are to continue and a decision made Sunday, Othman said.

Another Iraqi official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the coalition and United Nations intended to propose candidates from outside the Governing Council in an effort to overcome the stalemate.

But Othman said no other names had yet been mooted for the largely ceremonial post.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is headed for a contentious debate this week on a US-British draft resolution on Iraq after the rest of the interim government is named in Baghdad.

With Friday's announcement that Iyad Allawi had been tapped to become prime minister when a caretaker government assumes office on June 30, the council is now one small step closer to a vote on the draft.

China, France and Germany -- with Russia taking a quieter role -- are pushing for changes to the text to strengthen the commitment of full sovereignty for Iraqis once the US occupation has formally ended.