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BAGHDAD -- Cementing Iraq's first democratic
government in 50 years, one of Saddam Hussein's most
implacable enemies took his oath as president
yesterday and quickly named another longtime foe of
the ousted dictator to the powerful post of prime
minister.
The new government's main task will be to draft a
permanent constitution and lay the groundwork for
elections in December, although some worry that the
two months of political wrangling taken up in
forming the leadership hasn't left enough time.
The swearing-in ceremony came just two days short of
the second anniversary of Baghdad's fall to U.S.-led
forces and underlined the growing power and
cooperation of the Shi'a Arab majority and Kurdish
minority -- groups that were long oppressed by
Saddam's regime.
There were stumbles, though.
After his inaugural speech, interim President Jalal
Talabani, a Kurd, walked off the stage, and members
of the National Assembly and onlookers began to
disperse and television feeds were cut.
Talabani came back about 10 minutes later and had to
shout to a dwindling crowd that the President's
Council -- Talabani and his two vice presidents --
had, as expected, selected Shi'a Arab leader Ibrahim
al-Jaafari as interim prime minister.
Senior Kurdish official Barham Saleh blamed the
misstep on miscommunication, saying lawmakers didn't
realize the ceremony hadn't ended with Talabani's
speech.
Some Shi'a lawmakers felt snubbed.
"We hope that they forgot," said Abbas Hassan Mousa
al-Bayati, a top member of al-Jafaari's Shi'a-dominated
United Iraqi Alliance. "This happened because of bad
management."
Jaafari didn't seem upset, telling reporters
afterward: "This day represents a democratic process
and a step forward."
"I'm faced with a big responsibility, and I pray to
God that everyone will work hand-in-hand and that
their efforts will lead to progress and
development," he added.
Some Iraqis have expressed concern about al-Jaafari's
close ties to the Islamic government in Iran and his
work for the conservative Islamic Dawa Party, which
has called for the implementation of Islamic law.
But lawmakers didn't express any reservations
yesterday.
Jaafari said women will play a bigger role in his
government, and he promised to fight the violence of
the insurgency.
"There are two kinds of terrorism: terrorism from
inside Iraq -- and these are criminals, some of them
with ties to the former regime -- and the other is
the terrorism exported from abroad," he said.
Iraq's new leaders were longtime foes of Saddam, who
watched a videotape of Talabani's election Wednesday
but was not expected to be shown yesterday's
ceremony.
Jaafari spent more than two decades in exile helping
to lead anti-Saddam opposition forces among Shi'a
Arabs, while Talabani was one of the most
influential leaders in the resistance of ethnic
Kurds to Saddam as well as Arab domination.
Shi'a Arabs and Kurds have worked together in
putting the government together, and Talabani --
whose post is largely ceremonial -- reached out
yesterday to Sunni Arabs, who are believed to make
up the backbone of the insurgency and were the
dominant group under Saddam.
"It is time for our Sunni brothers to participate in
the democratic march," the president said.
Lawmakers have appointed Sunni Arabs to several top
posts in an effort to build a broad-based
government, but prominent Sunni Arab groups have
distanced themselves from the new administration.
Sunni Arabs have only 17 seats in parliament,
largely because many boycotted the Jan. 30 elections
or stayed home for fear of attacks at the polls.
Shi'as have 140 of the 275 seats in the National
Assembly, while Kurds have the second-largest bloc
with 75 seats.
Jaafari has a month to name his Cabinet, clearing
the way for the new government to begin drafting a
permanent constitution before an Aug. 15 deadline.
If the constitution is approved in an October
referendum, elections for a permanent government are
to be held in December.
Parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani, a Sunni Arab,
urged Iraq's new leaders to begin immediately. "Your
people are looking at you and waiting," he said.
"So, work!"
Hassani added that outgoing interim Prime Minister
Ayad Allawi, who took over from a U.S.-appointed
National Governing Council in June, turned in his
resignation yesterday. But he said Allawi was asked
to conduct the day-to-day work of the government
until the Cabinet is named.
Meanwhile, Iraq purchased 60,000 metric tons of U.S.
rice, the U.S. Agriculture Department said
yesterday. Growers hope "that this is the first of
many more export sales to this key market," said Lee
Adams, chairman of the USA rice federation.
Iraq was once the No.1 market for U.S. rice, buying
345,000 metric tons annually before the 1991 Gulf
War.
In violence yesterday, armed men blew up Shi'a
Muslims' al-Khudir shrine in the Latifiya area, 35
miles south of Baghdad, Babil police spokesman
Muthana Khalid said.
Insurgents fired rockets into Fallujah, the restive
city in Anbar province, the U.S. military said. It
said Marines returned fire but did not immediately
know if the rockets caused any damage.
In the northern city of Mosul, a bomb attack on an
Iraqi army patrol killed three soldiers and wounded
20, said Maj. Gen. Khalil Ahmed al-Obeidi, the Iraqi
commander in Mosul. Seven assailants were captured,
he said.
In Kirkuk, about 180 miles north of Baghdad, a
projectile hit an oil tanker, causing an explosion
that set several other trucks ablaze. Six drivers
were seriously wounded, and another was missing,
said Sarhat Qader, the police chief of the suburbs
surrounding Kirkuk.
AP
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