Iraq plan excluded Rumsfeld, White House confirms

The White House has moved to shore up an apparent rift with Secretary for Defence Donald Rumsfeld over the reorganisation of …

The White House has moved to shore up an apparent rift with Secretary for Defence Donald Rumsfeld over the reorganisation of post-war efforts in Iraq.

White House spokesman Mr Scott McClellan admitted Mr Rumsfeld had not been consulted about the major reorganisation headed by national security adviser Ms Condoleeza Rice.

Significantly, her team includes representatives from the State Department and other key agencies.

Mr McClellan said on Monday the secretary for defence had been consulted on the new Iraq Stabilisation Group (ISG) but was forced to withdraw the claim yesterday.

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"Maybe I should not have characterised it that way," he said.

In an interview on Tuesday with the Financial Times, Mr Rumsfeld expressed annoyance at not being consulted about the new plans until he received a classified memo from Ms Rice.

Before he recived the document, details were revealed to the New York Timesin a "background" briefing by Ms Rice at the weekend: "I don't quite know what the purpose of the backgrounding was," he said.

However, yesterday Mr Rumsfeld denied being angered by the reorganisation and the manner in which it was put together. He said could not understand the "froo-frah" over the issue.

He said his department officials had been consulted and pointed out that Mr Paul Bremer, who heads up the US civil presence in Iraq, still reports to the him.

In what appeared to be a co-ordinated damage limitation exercise, the White House said President Bush retained complete confidence in Mr Rumsfeld, that his authority had not been diminished and that the Pentagon remained the lead agency in Iraq.

But the newly created ISG is perceived in Washington as giving the State Department a greater say in postwar reconstruction in Iraq and representing a victory for Mr Colin Powell whose department had been sidelined from a task they normally be expected to lead.