Jalal Talabani is expected to be named Iraqi president (file photo)
Baghdad, 5 April 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Iraq's political factions are said to have reached agreement today on the country's next president and vice presidents.
News reports quote leaders of the main political blocs as saying that veteran Kurdish politician Jalal Talabani is expected to be named president at a parliament meeting tomorrow.
The politicians say the two vice presidents are expected to be Adel Abd al-Mahdi, a Shi'ite, and Sunni Arab tribal leader Ghazi Ajil al-Yawir, the previous president.
The Islamist-led Shi'ite alliance won a slim majority in parliamentary elections in January. The Kurdish coalition came second in the polls. They have been arguing over the shape of the new government for weeks.
Once the presidential council is appointed it must name a prime minister, who will choose a cabinet. Shi'ites and Kurds have agreed that Islamist Shi'ite leader Ibrahim Ja'fari will be prime minister, taking over from secular Shi'ite Iyad Allawi.
(Radio Free Iraq/Reuters/AFP)
The politicians say the two vice presidents are expected to be Adel Abd al-Mahdi, a Shi'ite, and Sunni Arab tribal leader Ghazi Ajil al-Yawir, the previous president.
The Islamist-led Shi'ite alliance won a slim majority in parliamentary elections in January. The Kurdish coalition came second in the polls. They have been arguing over the shape of the new government for weeks.
Once the presidential council is appointed it must name a prime minister, who will choose a cabinet. Shi'ites and Kurds have agreed that Islamist Shi'ite leader Ibrahim Ja'fari will be prime minister, taking over from secular Shi'ite Iyad Allawi.
(Radio Free Iraq/Reuters/AFP)