Iraqi officials said that L. Paul Bremer III, the American occupation administrator in Iraq, joined part of the discussions.

Administration officials assert that the transitional law, developed under the supervision of L. Paul Bremer III, the American occupation administrator, remains in force.

It must move sharply away from the overreaching micromanagement that characterized Mr. Bremer's tenure as the chief American occupation administrator in Iraq.

"I arrived a block away from the checkpoint by taxi, and suddenly there was a huge explosion," said Basil Zachariah, an Iraqi translator for the occupation administrators.

The occupation administrator travels Iraq surrounded by armed guards while attacks get scarier, culminating in last week's bestial block party in Falluja.

She also sent a letter to the occupation administrator, Paul Bremer, demanding his attention.

Participants in the meeting said the ayatollah did not criticize the American occupation administrator, L. Paul Bremer III.

In Iraq, the occupation administrators have had shifting policies about whether or not to block from power anyone associated with Mr. Hussein.

His account of the British effort to govern Iraq in the early 1920's offers almost eerie parallels with L. Paul Bremer's stumbling tour as occupation administrator.

But neither Iraqi political leaders nor the occupation administrators believe that the public's demand for punishment can be delayed for long.