Iraq's newly elected president and two vice presidents were sworn in on Thursday, followed by the official naming of a prime minister to form a transitional government in weeks.

Jalal Talabani, a veteran Kurdish rebel leader against Saddam Hussein's regime, became the first non-Arab president in the mainlyArab country.

Inside the US-protected Green Zone in central Baghdad, Talabani took the oath in front of hundreds of lawmakers and religious and political leaders.

"I swear by God the great that I will work with devotion to preserve the independence and sovereignty of Iraq and to preserve its democratic and federal system," he said.

Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite politician, and Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni leader from a prominent Arabian tribe, were also sworn in as the vice presidents.

They have equal authority with Talabani, as the three posts are largely ceremonial compared with that of the prime minister.

The three form the so-called presidential council, which has designated Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite Islamist, as the prime minster. The position will only be validated after Jaafari forms a cabinet approved by a majority of the National Assembly (parliament).

TOUGH TASK

Jaafari first has to decide the key governmental posts, over which the winning parties have been squabbling in the past weeks.

"I hope I will be able to form the cabinet within two weeks although I have a period of one month according to the basic law," a confident Jaafari told reporters.

He said he will pick ministers according to their quality and integrity and not the sectarian background.

Facing a nation plagued with conflicts, Jaafari considered restoring security his priority.

"We will deal with terrorism in Iraq by differentiating the sources of violence -- whether it is the terror from abroad or the kind that emerges from the country itself."

Making a gesture of reaching out to the Sunni Arabs, Jaafari said those who boycotted the elections "are Iraqis and we will be open to them with love and confidence."

The insurgency in Iraq is thought to be mostly fueled by Sunni Arabs who were receiving money and weaponry from foreign militants and operatives.

Iraqi Sunni voters largely stayed away from the polls on Jan. 30due to fear of attacks or calls for boycott.

Asked about the timetable for the US-led multinational forces towithdraw from Iraq, Jaafari said, "We will set a timetable for building Iraqi security forces and this will be the timetable for the foreign forces to pull out."

Among the top tasks were also an amnesty for those not criminal to Iraqis and a fight against corruption, he noted.

Parliamentary speaker Hachim Hassani said the outgoing prime minister Iyad Allawi had submitted his resignation, but he was asked to stay in office until the new government is shaped.

HISTORIC MOMENT

Thursday's inauguration was a huge symbolic moment for Iraqis who have been waiting impatiently for a care-taker government for nearly 10 weeks since they braved suicide attacks to go to polling stations on Jan. 30.

In his speech, Talabani pledged to reconcile with the largely marginalized Sunnis and launch an ideological war against terrorism.

"We have to distinguish between the terrorists, resistance and the rest of Iraqis ... and work with the Sunni Arabs who are ready to take part in writing the constitution," said Talabani.

A chance for peaceful resolution will be offered with those fighting against "what they called the 'occupation'," he said.

He also recalled the harsh, oppressive policies under the toppled Saddam regime, especially the gassing of the Kurdish village of Halabja in 1988 which left thousands dead.

"Iraqis have tasted the suffer of sectarianism, national persecution and military adventures," he addressed the hailing legislators.

Naming Talabani, a Kurd, the president and Jaafari, a Shiite, the premier reflected a historic power shift in the sectarianly andethnically mosaic country, ruled in the last 50 years by regimes said to have favored the Sunni Arab minority.

But the Shiite and Kurdish blocs, which won most parliamentary seats in the milestone Jan. 30 elections, have been eager to involve the Sunnis into the political landscape in order not to further alienate the community or incite any national strife.

Yawar, the outgoing president, was offered the vice presidency, and Hachim al-Hasani, another Sunni Arab allied with Yawar, was chosen the speaker of the National Assembly.

Source: Xinhua