DUKAN, Iraq, April 22 (IslamOnline.net &) - The military governor of post-war Iraq retired U.S. General Jay Garner met here Tuesday, April 22, with the leaders of the two largest Kurdish factions.

A day after touring the battered Iraqi capital, Garner began talks with Jalal Talabani, head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq as he tries to prepare the way for an Iraqi government to unite the nation, Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The 65-year-old ex-general's visit Tuesday began with a warm welcome in the town of Suleimanyah from Talabani, as Garner said that it is like "returning home."

He then headed to Dukan for talks with Talabani and Barzani, praising both leaders before the meeting and said they had "the mark of courage."

Talabani said: "President Bush has proposed a very good proposal for Iraq, a federation, and that we support."

Garner, for his part, said the country's next government would have one leader who can represent the cultural "mosaic" of Iraq.

"The new government of Iraq will have one leader, one army, one government," Garner told reporters after talks with the Kurdish leaders, but there was no word yet about the substance of the talks.

"Our desire would be that the new government of Iraq represents all the Iraqi people," he said. "It will be a mosaic."

Talabani stressed his party was not looking to create an independent Kurdistan.

"This is not our dream. Our dream is to live in the framework of a democratic Iraq," Talabani said.

"Although we believe that the Kurdish people, like other people in the world, have the right to self-determination, at this moment we want to deal within the framework of Iraq," he said.

Garner earlier spoke to students at Suleimanyah University in the north, praising the development of the Kurdish region.

"What you have done here in the last 12 years is a wonderful start in self-government and what you have done can serve as a model for the rest of Iraq," he said.

"Iraq is one of the wealthiest countries in the Middle East yet the wealth of Iraq has never been shared."

He expressed anger over the deplorable state of a Baghdad hospital in contrast to the grandeur of one of Saddam's former palaces where he spent Monday night.

"I got sick because none of this was ever shared with the people," Garner said.

Many Iraqis distrust U.S. plans for the nation's future, accusing the United States of seeking to control Iraq's vast oil reserves -- the second-largest in the world -- and planning to extend its reach across the volatile Middle East.

In another development, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal urged the occupying authority in Iraq to quickly establish an Iraqi interim administration in Baghdad as a prelude to setting up a legitimate Iraqi government.

"We urge the occupying government to quickly set up an interim government in Iraq and to control the security situation," AFP quoted Prince Saud as telling a press conference.

But he said Riyadh would deal with a U.S. military administration in Baghdad headed by Garner only for "practical reasons, like sending aid" to the Iraqi people.

"Garner did not say he represents the Iraqi government or he is a substitute for it," the Saudi minister said.

"Forming the Iraqi interim government would open the way for (Riyadh's) dealing with Baghdad," he said.

"But this has nothing to do with recognizing the legitimacy of occupation ... or the legitimacy of the government."

"The occupying forces should restore security until Iraq succeeds in reestablishing its security agencies and other services. At this point, it is necessary that the legitimate Iraqi government should take over," he added.

Meanwhile, Former Iraqi foreign minister and opposition figure Adnan Pachachi is to meet In Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher, Egypt's foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Pachachi, 80, said in Kuwait in Saturday, April 19, hoped a broad-based conference would be held in Baghdad soon to elect an interim Iraqi authority that would put the war-ravaged country on the path to free elections.

Pachachi, a Sunni Muslim, served as foreign minister from 1965 to 1967, and has been in exile since 1970.