SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Under fire for allegedly suppressing positive drug tests, USA Track & Field proposed that its entire doping control program be handed over to an independent world body.

 Craig Masback, executive director of USATF, suggested Friday that the World Anti-Doping Agency handle all in-competition and out-of-competition tests for American athletes and investigate any positive cases.

 Dick Pound, the IOC vice president who heads the world agency, endorsed the idea and said it should be extended to all countries and all sports.

 "Ultimately, that's probably the best way for all this to be played out -- that all testing, for all national and international federations and national Olympic committees, be handled by an independent third party," he said.

 Pound said WADA's executive board would meet sometime after the Sydney Games to decide on its formal response, but made clear he had no objection.

 "It's my view this is where we should end up," he said. "I think it's a big step forward, especially for an American organization."

 USATF also announced it was forming a special commission to review its drug-testing procedures and address allegations that a number of positive cases have been covered up.

 Arne Ljungqvist, the anti-doping chief of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, said last week that USATF had withheld information on 12 to 15 positive tests in the past two years.

 Masback denied any cover-ups, insisting that USATF was bound by American confidentiality laws and rules preventing the disclosure of names of athletes who test positive until due process has run its course.

 Masback said no U.S. athletes competing in the Sydney Games had failed drug tests.

 He said the majority of cases still under wraps involved substances for which athletes had medical waivers, others involved cold-medicine products, and the rest were still being investigated.

 USATF's policies came under intense scrutiny following disclosures this week that shot put world champion C.J. Hunter, husband of sprint star Marion Jones, had failed four drug tests in Europe this summer. The news was confirmed only after leaks in the media.

 International Olympic Committee officials criticized the U.S. policy and urged USATF to come clean on all test results. White House drug policy director Barry McCaffrey also called for a full, public accounting of the tests.

 Masback met this week with Pound, chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency. The body was set up last year to coordinate a global program of out-of-competition testing.

 "After my meeting with Dick Pound, it was apparent to me that in spite of our best efforts in the doping control area, Mr. Pound and others do not have total confidence in how we have handled doping matters," Masback said in a statement.

 "USATF has been a pioneer in drug testing and has never covered up a positive test. Our Olympic team is the most-tested group of athletes in history. We believe that WADA control of our anti-doping program will ensure international confidence in the system."

 In a separate letter to Pound, Masback said he was unable to find a way to run a drug control program subject to the competing jurisdictions of the IAAF and the U.S. Olympic Committee. He also cited "shortcomings" of certain IOC-accredited testing labs and the challenge of working within the confines of U.S. law.

 "I propose that WADA take over USA Track & Field's entire doping control program," Masback wrote. "WADA would administer and conduct our in-competition and out-of-competition drug testing programs and adjudicate all cases."

 Under Masback's proposal, WADA would render a final decision to USATF, whose only role would be to take any disciplinary action.

 Until now, WADA's role has been limited to funding and controlling out-of-competition testing. It has not conducted in-competition testing and has had no role in prosecuting positive cases, leaving that up to the international sports federations.

 But Pound said he envisioned no problems in expanding WADA's role, and predicted that WADA could control all testing at the next Summer Games in Athens in 2004.

 IAAF general secretary Istvan Gyulai also backed the USATF proposal.

 "I think it's a good idea," he said. "This would make things more transparent and help get rid of all the accusations."

 Meanwhile, USATF announced the formation of a panel to assess the federation's compliance with anti-doping rules.

 The commission will be comprised of Micki King, U.S. diving gold medalist at the 1972 Olympics and current Assistant Athletic Director at the University of Kentucky; Curtis H. Barnette, Chairman Emeritus of Bethlehem Steel Corp. and a lawyer in Washington D.C.; and Richard H. McLaren, a law school professor at the University of Western Ontario.

 McLaren, who has been a long-standing member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, will chair the panel. Masback also invited Pound to appoint a WADA delegate to sit on the commission.

 The review will be completed in 90 days and its findings made public, Masback said.