Washington ? President Bush’s plan for transforming Iraq met resistance from European leaders and some Iraqis on Tuesday as skeptics pressed for more details on the planned transfer of power to an interim Iraqi government.

A senior Bush administration official in Baghdad said U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was “on course” to announce by Monday or Tuesday the make-up of an Iraqi interim government, and officials in Washington said one name, that of Iraqi nuclear scientist Hussain Shahristani, was in the “final running” to be prime minister.

But even as Brahimi goes through a “handful” of names for the positions of president, two vice presidents, prime minister and 26 Cabinet ministers, there were still open questions about how much control the interim government will have over Iraqi and U.S. military forces.

Disputes over the role of those troops soured the outlook for swift international endorsement of the plan Bush outlined Monday night in a speech at the U.S. Army War College.

Several European leaders called for more restraints on the American-led forces that will remain after next month. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush’s closest European ally, seemed to split with the White House by suggesting that the interim government should have veto power over U.S. military operations in Iraq.

“That has to be done with the consent of the Iraqi government, and the final political control remains with the Iraqi government,” Blair told reporters in London. “That is what the transfer of sovereignty means.”

French President Jacques Chirac told Bush that a U.N. resolution should give Iraqis a role in military decisions.

Bush’s plan would give the caretaker government control of most domestic issues and Iraq’s own weak security forces, but ultimately leaves Iraq’s security in U.S. hands until beefed-up Iraqi security forces are ready to take charge. Bush said the 138,000 U.S. troops in Iraq would stay “as long as necessary.”

Secretary of State Colin Powell, asked about Blair’s remarks, said that even if Iraqi authorities object, “U.S. forces remain under U.S. command and will do what is necessary to protect themselves.”

U.S. Army soldiers rush to evacuate an injured comrade in the center of Baghdad, Iraq, after thunderous explosions at the capital. A U.S. helicopter landed in the square and evacuated at least one wounded person Tuesday as American troops and military vehicles provided security.

In addition, while Bush said he planned to enlist more international support for rebuilding in Iraq, countries such as France, Germany and Belgium reiterated Tuesday they had no intention of sending troops.

In Iraq, the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council also called for Iraqi control over the U.S.-led coalition force.

“We understand sovereignty to be absolute,” the Governing Council said in a written statement.