BAGHDAD -- Exiled Iraqi opposition leaders who returned to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein have been told by the U.S. administration they will not participate in forming a new government, the Washington Post reported Sunday.

Leaders of seven political parties, including the Pentagon-backed Iraqi National Congress, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraqi (SCIRI) and two Kurdish parties, returned to Baghdad expecting to head a new political regime.

But Paul Bremer, the top U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, has told the former opposition leaders, who do not count women, Christians or tribal chiefs among their ranks, that they "don't represent the country", and are not suitable candidates for leadership.

Instead of establishing a full interim government, Bremer wants to appoint Iraqis to a council which will advise the U.S. administration on policy decisions.

Bremer has said he wants the council to include a diverse range of Iraqis, and not just the returned exiles.

The decision not to hand over power to the former opposition leaders, means the U.S. will maintain authority in Iraq longer than originally planned. The Washington Post reported one senior U.S. official as saying that tenure could last as long as two years.

In a bid to strengthen their position the opposition leaders have called for council members to be chosen through a national assembly that they would organize. Bremer however has rejected that suggestion. SCIRI party official Hamid Bayati said: "We will only be part of an administration selected by the Iraqi people. There are certain lines which we cannot cross."

The U.S. administration is said to be considering as political advisors and possible leaders other Iraqis who opposed Hussein but did not leave the country.

Ten such Iraqis, including three women and two tribal chiefs, were invited by Bremer to join a meeting on Friday with the seven former exile groups.