By Karen DeYoung

Spain has agreed to send as many as 1,500 troops to participate in a postwar stabilization force in Iraq, but has barred them from any combat missions, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said yesterday. "We're still in the discussion phase" of a mission for the troops, Aznar said in an interview at Blair House, where he is staying during a Washington visit. He said that he anticipated the Spanish force would be working on reconstruction and stability tasks, but that their mandate included "no combat missions." The Spanish agreement follows a similar commitment this week from Poland, whose foreign minister met with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on Tuesday.

As lawlessness and lack of control continue to be a problem in Iraq, the administration is trying to quickly assemble what would amount to an international peacekeeping force to take over at least part of the policing and reconstruction task. Anxious to appear less of a unilateral occupier, U.S. defense officials have said they hope to divide the country into three sectors, with Britain taking charge of the south, Poland the north, and the United States the middle and retaining overall command. Representatives from at least 11 countries that have said they would contribute forces are to meet today in London to work out deployment details, with another meeting May 22 in Poland.

But U.S. plans for how the foreign troops would be deployed and what their mission would be remain as opaque as other aspects of its occupation strategy. One of the major questions is how the new forces will relate to the 135,000 U.S. combat troops still in Iraq. Most of the countries that have agreed to participate in the stabilization force have promised only small numbers of troops, with conditions attached. Poland has said it wants the United States to pay for its deployment -- $60 million for six months or a bargain price of $90 million for a year. Honduras and Nicaragua have said they would contribute troops to a "Spanish brigade" in the British sector, but only if Spain reimburses them.

Poland and a number of countries that have not made a commitment have said they will send troops only under a U.N. mandate, which does not exist. Primarily made up of eastern Europeans and Asians, the proposed force includes no Arabs. Aznar is the latest in a string of foreign officials who have visited the administration in recent weeks to sign on to the postwar policy in Iraq; to get a better understanding of what that policy will be; or, in the case of Security Council members that opposed the war, to patch up a frayed relationship. Germany, Mexico and Chile -- all council members that have sent senior officials here in the past two weeks -- are in the last category. "Fence-mending is the order of the day," a senior German official said. The Germans, the official said, saw themselves as a "bridge" between the United States and Europe, and urged the administration not to "punish" France.

France and Germany opposed a U.S.-sponsored Security Council resolution authorizing war against Iraq. But U.S. ire was largely directed toward France, a permanent member of the council whose veto threat was a major factor leading the administration to withdraw the measure before a vote. The administration is considering reprisal against France. Although Paris said it wants to be constructive, the administration is concerned France will try to block a new resolution giving U.N. blessing to U.S.-directed political and physical reconstruction in Iraq and lifting an international economic embargo.

Spain, along with Britain, plans to co-sponsor the new resolution when it is introduced, perhaps as early as Friday. Aznar echoed the Germans in calling for disagreements to be overcome in the United Nations and between the United States and its allies in Europe. "I'm convinced that Europe and the United States have to act together," he said. "Any weakening of the Atlantic alliance is directly opposed to Europe's interests." Aznar said that healing the divisions of the past several months "requires actions by both sides," and he called on Bush to reach out to estranged countries in Europe soon with a "vision" for a strong trans-Atlantic relationship. "I believe President Bush should go to Europe and should speak about the content of the relationship in broader political terms" beyond the U.N. battles, he said.

In a Rose Garden appearance with Bush, Aznar thanked the president for taking the initiative leading to yesterday's State Department announcement that it had placed a political party Spain has charged represents the Basque separatist group ETA on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations. The Spanish Supreme Court in March outlawed the party, called Batasuna, and Aznar said he had personally asked Bush about putting it on the U.S. list about five weeks ago. Aznar's support for the Iraq war was overwhelmingly opposed in Spain. As his party heads toward local elections later this month, he had been hoping for the designation as proof of the benefits of U.S. cooperation. "I know, I understand that there are people [in Spain] who disagree with me" on Iraq, Aznar said. "But this decision is an expression of firm [U.S.] commitment."

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