DATE=9/13/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=POWELL/KUWAIT/IRAQ (S O)

NUMBER=2-307459

BYLINE=DALE GAVLAK

DATELINE=GENEVA

INTRO: U-S Secretary of State Colin Powell will travel to Kuwait and Iraq after talks in Geneva about Iraq's future. V-O-A's Dale Gavlak has the details from Geneva.

TEXT: Secretary of State Powell will be the highest ranking U-S official to visit to Iraq since U-S troops ousted the Saddam Hussein regime in April.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher says Mr. Powell will meet with Iraqi politicians involved in the governing council and with members of the Coalition Provisional Authority. He says Mr. Powell wants to view first-hand the progress made by the international community and the Iraqi people to rebuild Iraq.

Mr. Powell is in Geneva to meet U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan and his Security Council counterparts from Britain, France, China and Russia. Talks will focus on the security situation in Iraq and just how quickly Washington should turn over authority to the Iraqis or the United Nations.

Discussions also will deal with a U-S draft U-N resolution on Iraq that would authorize a multinational military force for the country. (Signed)

NEB/DG/DW/KBK