Iraq's interim cabinet sworn in, Governing Council Disolved

It will begin taking up its powers at once, after a surprise decision by the Governing Council, formed last July, to dissolve itself with immediate effect.

The changes took place within hours of Ghazi Yawer being named as president.

Both he and interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi were the favoured candidates of the Iraqi Governing Council.

US praise

The swearing in of the interim administration follows days of wrangling between the council and American officials in Iraq.

The US officials, along with UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, preferred veteran Sunni politician Adnan Pachachi to take over the largely ceremonial role of president.

Earlier reports said Mr Pachachi, an ex-Foreign Minister, had been chosen as president but had declined the job, reportedly because he had little backing among his fellow council members.

BBC Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says that in the three-way tussle between the council, the chief US administrator Paul Bremer and the UN special envoy, the council has proved remarkably successful in getting its way.

In the first reaction by a senior US official, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said the formation of an interim Iraqi government was a "positive step for the future of a free Iraq".

Coalition future

At the swearing-in ceremony, Mr Yawer said his goal was to make Iraq one nation, "without murderers and criminals".

He said he wanted a pluralistic, democratic and federal Iraq that would live in peace and co-operation with its neighbours

Mr Yawer is a US-educated civil engineer and tribal leader who has recently criticised the way the US has handled security in Iraq.

Mr Allawi for his part said that while he wanted the US occupation of Iraq to end as soon as possible, for now coalition forces would remain in place.

He expressed gratitude for what the coalition forces had done thus far in Iraq, saying "We will need the participation of the multinational forces to help in defeating the enemies of Iraq".

Continuing unrest

The full handover of power to the Iraqis is scheduled to take place on 30 June, a day which Mr Allawi said would be a major step in creating a new, sovereign Iraq.

BBC News Online world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds says that the interim government has turned out to be a more political body than the government of technocrats originally proposed by Mr Brahimi.

This reflects, our correspondent says, a feeling that Iraq needs some leadership at this moment. Some of the government's key figures are from the Governing Council which has exerted its influence in the negotiations.

The dramatic political developments came as a series of blasts were heard in the centre of Baghdad.

Witnesses said a car bomb exploded near the headquarters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party, close to the Iraqi foreign ministry.

There are conflicting reports about the number of casualties - latest reports say three people have died, and more than 30 were injured, but earlier, at least 10 people were said to have been killed.

Witnesses also said at least four mortars had been fired at the headquarters of the US-led coalition in the so-called Green Zone.

And the US military announced the death of a US soldier from the First Marine Expeditionary Force, who was killed during an operation in Anbar province, western Iraq, on 31st May.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3766395.stm

Interim Iraqi government

BBC News Online looks at the Iraqis chosen to form Iraq's interim government, scheduled to take power from 30 June.

PRESIDENT: GHAZI YAWER
Ghazi Yawer is a civil engineer, businessman and tribal leader from the northern town of Mosul. He currently holds the rotating presidency in the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council.

The 45-year-old US-educated moderate Sunni and former exile has strong ties to Washington, but has been sharply critical of the coalition.

Profile: Ghazi Yawer

PRIME MINISTER: IYAD ALLAWI
Iyad Allawi is the leader of the Iraqi National Accord, a group formed by Iraqi exiles, many former Baath Party members who had fled the country.

Born in 1945 to a prominent Shia Muslim merchant family, he trained as a neurologist. Mr Allawi is seen as being historically close to the US, particularly the CIA, although he has been critical of the US-led coalition in recent months.

Profile: Iyad Allawi

VICE PRESIDENTS
Ibrahim Jaafari:
Ibrahim Jaafari is a spokesman for the Islamic Daawa Party, one of the two main Shia parties in Iraq.

He is a member of the Governing Council and is also one of the members to hold the council's rotating presidency.

He was born in Karbala and graduated from Mosul university.

Rowsch Shaways:
Rowsch Shaways is president of the Kurdish National Assembly and a member of the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP).


MINISTERS
Deputy Prime Minister for National Security: Barham Saleh, prime minister of Kurdish regional government and member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).

Foreign minister: Hoshyar Zebari of the KDP will stay in his current position of foreign minister.

Raised in Mosul, he was KDP foreign affairs spokesman in the 1990s and represented the party in the US and UK. Educated in the UK (University of Essex) and Jordan.

Finance minister: Adil Abdel-Mahdi, senior official in Sciri, one of the two main Shia parties.


Defence minister: Hazem Shalan al-Khuzaei

Interior minister: Falah Hassan al-Naqib

Minister of Oil: Thamir Ghadbhan is promoted from adviser to the Oil Ministry.

Minister of Justice: Malik Dohan al-Hassan, a Sunni Muslim, president of the Iraqi Bar Association and head of the task force on compensation for victims of the former regime.

Minister of Human Rights: Bakhityar Amin, human rights expert, born in Kirkuk, educated in France and Sweden.

Minister of Electricity: Ayham al-Samarrai, Iraqi Independent Democrats, remains in current position.

A Sunni Muslim and close associate of Adnan Pachachi, he was active in the exile community in the US.

Minister of Health: Alaa Abdessaheb al-Alwan, former World Health Organisation official

Minister of Communication: Mohammed Ali Hakim, thought to be related to Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, head of Sciri and a member of the IGC.

Minister of Housing: Omar Farouk

Minister of Public Works: Nesreen Mustafa Berwari, Harvard-educated former minister of reconstruction and development in the Kurdish regional government led by the KDP.

She has also worked for the UNHCR and other UN agencies in Kurdish northern Iraq.

Minister of Science and Technology: Rashad Mandan Omar, a Sunni Muslim and a Turkmen, originally from Kirkuk, retains his current position.

An engineer, he has spent the last five years working on airport construction in Dubai.

Minister of Planning: Mahdi al-Hafez, Iraqi Independent Democrats, a Shia Muslim and Iraqi ambassador to the UN 1978-80.

Has has also worked in the oil ministry, as a UN regional adviser and as head of the Cairo-based Arab Economic Research Association.

Minister of Trade: Mohammed al-Joubri

Minister of Sport and Youth: Ali Faik Alghaban, a Shia Muslim and Sciri supporter

Minister of Transportation: Louei Hatim Sultan al-Aris

Minister of Provincial Affairs: Wael Abdel-Latif, Shia, elected Basra governor by interim local council in July last year, former IGC member, civil and criminal lawyer disbarred and imprisoned by Saddam Hussein.

Minister of Women's Affairs: Nermin Othman

Minister of Immigration and Refugees: Bascal Essue

Minister of Irrigation: Latif Rashid, former PUK spokesman in London, maintains his existing position.

Minister of Labour: Leila Abdul-Latif

Minister of Education: Sami Mudahfar, promoted from deputy minister, former president of Baghdad University and one of Iraq's most senior biochemists.

Minister of Higher Education: Tahir al-Bakaa

Minister of Agriculture: Sawsan Sherif, promoted from deputy minister.

Educated at Baghdad and Iowa universities, she has also worked for the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Minister of Culture: Mufid Mohammad Jawad al-Jazairi, Iraqi Communist Party, Shia Muslim, maintains his existing position.

Worked as a journalist for Czechoslovak radio in the 60s and 70s but returned to Iraq in the 1980s.

Minister of Industry: Hajim al-Hassani

Minister of State: Qassim Dawoud

Minister of State: Mahmoud Farhad Othman, previously leader of the Kurdish Socialist Party (Sunni Kurd) and IGC member, stood as a presidential candidate in Iraqi Kurdistan's first elections in 1992.

Minister of State: Adnan al-Janabi

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3766401.stm