WASHINGTON, 6 April 2003 — During his fence-mending trip to Europe this week, Secretary of State Colin Powell reported that his diplomatic counterparts were receptive and open to moving past the controversy over the US-led war against Iraq. But if the skeptical and sharply phrased questions that European journalists threw at Powell are any indication, the Bush administration faces a much higher hurdle in getting European opinion-makers to forgive and forget.

“Welcome to ‘Old Europe,’’’ a German television reporter sarcastically said as he began an interview. A Turkish reporter repeatedly interrupted Powell and wondered aloud if Powell had come to Turkey only because the war was going badly and the United States needed Turkey’s help. A Dutch reporter asked Powell how it felt to be a “symbol of failing US diplomacy.’’ A couple of reporters pointedly asked when the United States would attack another country, such as Iran or North Korea.

The acerbic interviews tested Powell’s legendary patience and diplomatic skills. Frequently, he questioned the reporter’s assumptions and logic.

In Turkey on Wednesday, journalist Ali Kirca repeatedly pressed Powell to reveal his “personal feelings’’ about civilian casualties at a reported hospital bombing. When the interview continued beyond its scheduled end, Powell removed his headphones mid-question and walked to his waiting motorcade. “My taxi driver asked me to tell you to please stop this war as soon as possible,’’ the reporter blurted out before Powell departed.

Polls show that most Europeans firmly oppose the war, even in countries the White House lists among the “coalition of the willing.’’ European news coverage of war is often highly critical, or plays down accounts of Iraqis happily greeting Americans. There is deep suspicion of US motives, with many suggesting the administration is attacking Iraq only for its oil.

During a discussion with European editors in Brussels, one reporter asked if US companies would get “everything’’ — all the business contracts — while European companies would be blacklisted.

To some extent, Powell is dealing with the fallout of problems he didn’t create. Many Europeans appear to resent the biting criticism by some administration officials — such as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who remarked that France and Germany were part of “Old Europe.’’

Similarly, French, Russian and German foreign ministers meeting in Paris Friday condemned a recent vote in the House of Representatives, which would bar companies based in those three countries, plus Syria, from doing business in postwar Iraq. The White House urged lawmakers to reject the measure.

After the interviewer from Germany’s ZDF-TV Thursday welcomed the secretary of state to “Old Europe,’’ Powell gamely replied that “whether you call it ‘Old Europe’ or ‘New Europe,’ the transatlantic alliance, the transatlantic family will come together again in the rebuilding process.’’

The reporter persisted with tough questions, resulting in pointed answers. “Is this how the new partition of labor will be?’’ the reporter asked. “America is going its course with or without allies, any number that’s available, be it zero. And then the UN’s role is to go in as a good Samaritan and clean up the mess.’’ Powell called the question an “absurd, simplistic shorthand response to what people think we’re doing.’’ Alluding to the US role in rebuilding Europe after World War II, he added: “Europeans, especially Germans, should recognize the American record, our history. Our history is not one of getting involved in conflicts just for the sake of it.’’

The reporter tried another tack. Were Iran and Syria next on the hit list?

“No, there is no list,’’ Powell said. “There is this common perception in Europe that there is this list of enemies and we are going to go down one-by-one and invade them all in some predetermined order. This is not the case.’’

(When a reporter at the editors’ roundtable asked a similar question, Powell jabbed back, “We don’t look for wars to go to. We do this reluctantly. You perhaps should look at European history first, for a pre-emptive action and nations that enjoyed going to war.’’)

The German TV reporter followed up by asking if the United States would respond with chemical or nuclear weapons if Iraq used weapons of mass destruction. “You’re taking me down a logic train that appeals to some people, that the United States will use weapons of mass destruction in return,’’ Powell steamed. “I cannot imagine we would prosecute this war in any way but the way we see it being prosecuted now.’’

During a news conference after meetings Thursday at NATO headquarters, a Dutch reporter told Powell that he had been “a diplomatic star in the view of many Europeans, but in the last few months you have — in the view of many Europeans but also Americans — you have become sort of a symbol of failing US diplomacy. Do you regret that?’’

“I don’t accept your premise,’’ Powell said.