Council members said occupation officials had given them no official reaction to their plan to remain in office.

But local occupation officials appear in some areas to have accepted the flow of Kurds back to their homes.

Though occupation officials quickly become aware of the campaign, they are unable to find any quick solutions to it.

Finding Sunni tribal and community leaders to work with has been difficult, occupation officials say.

A senior occupation official acknowledged in private the lack of popular support for the secular groups.

"We are making security for the prime minister a top priority," a senior occupation official said today.

"The security needs were just overwhelming," said an occupation official.

For every police job there are six people applying, occupation officials said, and already 70,000 have been hired.

"It's a constrained existence we lead here," one occupation official said.

But even if we don't, all the senior occupation officials are located there.