The US-led authority has taken pains to give the impression that the council was selected by Iraqis, even if members have had to meet coalition approval.
"I want to share the headache with them. They want responsibility, we will give it to them," Bremer told a recent meeting, according to a source who attended the talks and asked not to be identified.
The body is to comprise 13 Shiites, five Kurds, one Turkmen, one Christian and five Arab Sunnis, designed to reflect Iraq's population.
A minority of those would be Iraqis formerly in exile, while three or four women would be on the body, the UN official said, adding the council would also include five or six representatives from Islamist Sunni or Shiite groups.
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