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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's newly elected
president was to be sworn into office on Thursday
and was then
expected to name a new prime minister as lawmakers
pushed ahead with the stilted process of forming a
government.
Former Kurdish guerrilla leader Jalal Talabani, 71,
was to be formally made president at a ceremony in
Baghdad's tightly protected Green Zone, becoming the
first non-Arab president of an Arab state in a
landmark
move for the Kurdish minority.
His vice-presidents, Shi'ite politician Adel Abdul
Mahdi and Sunni tribesman Ghazi Yawar, were also to
be
sworn in, forming the presidential council, the next
step in the process of drawing up a government
nearly 10
weeks after elections.
After the inauguration, Talabani was expected to
announce that Islamist Shi'ite leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari,
who
opposed Saddam Hussein for decades in exile, would
be Iraq's first democratically elected prime
minister in 50
years.
Jaafari, a softly spoken doctor who spent years in
Iran and London, would then have up to two weeks to
name a
cabinet, although the announcement was expected
sooner than that.
From his jail cell outside Baghdad, Saddam watched
Talabani's election on video on Wednesday and might
also end up watching Thursday's formal swearing in
and the naming of Jaafari, Iraq's human rights
minister
said.
Seeing the election of a Kurd and former foe as
president had left Saddam shaken, minister Bakhtiar
Amin said.
"He was clearly upset. He realised that it was over,
that a democratic process had taken place and that
there
was a new, elected president," Amin told Reuters.
It was the first television Saddam had seen in
nearly 16 months in captivity. His 11 top deputies,
all of whom
face trial along with Saddam this year, also watched
the video.
One of the main charges expected to be levelled
against Saddam and his aides is the gassing of the
Kurds in
the town of Halabja in 1988, leaving thousands dead.
The naming of a Kurd as president and a Shi'ite as
prime minister seals the political transformation
that has
taken place since his overthrow. Targeted and
oppressed for decades under Saddam, Shi'ites and
Kurds now
run the country.
WINDS OF CHANGE
At the same time, efforts are being made to ensure
the Sunni Arab minority that once dominated is not
frozen out
in a bid to avoid fuelling sectarian tensions.
While only 17 of the 275 members of parliament are
Sunni Arabs -- a reflection of the fact most Sunnis
either
boycotted or decided not to vote on Jan. 30 --
Sunnis are being given several top posts in the
government.
Talabani's election led to spontaneous celebrations
across Kurdish regions of northeastern Iraq on
Wednesday, with thousands crowding streets, dancing
and waving Kurdish flags.
Hailed by a standing ovation in parliament, Talabani
pledged to work together with all ethnic and
religious
factions to rebuild the country after decades of
conflict and dictatorship.
U.S. President George W. Bush, who has told
Americans their troops will come home as Iraq
establishes a new
government, said in a statement: "The Iraqi people
have shown their commitment to democracy and we, in
turn,
are committed to Iraq."
While the naming of a president does mark progress
after more than nine weeks of political impasse
since the
election, Iraq's lawmakers still have a long way to
go.
The cabinet is expected to be named in the coming
days, but there is still intense squabbling over one
of the
top posts, the oil ministry, which is crucial to
Iraq's economy and rebuilding. The ministry is
coveted by both
Shi'ites and Kurds.
Many Iraqis have complained that politicians have
let them down by taking so long to form a
government.
Several Iraqi officials say the delay has benefited
Iraq's insurgents.
Militant attacks continued on Thursday with a
suicide bomber blowing up his vehicle near a U.S.
convoy in the
town of Tal Afar, in the far northwest of Iraq.
Hospital officials said 12 civilians were wounded in
the blast.
But overall, figures show the insurgency appears to
have softened since the election, with attacks
against U.S.-
led forces down by more than 20 percent. At the same
time, more than 250 Iraqi security force members
were
killed last month.
Reuters
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