IRAQ: Parliament elected veteran Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as Iraq's president yesterday, breaking a two-month political impasse and paving the way for a new government more than nine weeks after elections.
Mr Talabani is the first Kurd to be Iraq's president - and the first non-Arab president of any Arab state - a sign of the new clout of the Kurdish minority that backed the US-led invasion in 2003.
Saddam Hussein watched his election on video from his jail cell outside Baghdad later in the day and was shaken by the experience, Iraq's human rights minister 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," Bakhtiar Amin told reporters, saying Saddam's senior lieutenants had also been shown the footage.
Two vice-presidents were elected: Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shia who was finance minister in the outgoing government, and Sunni Arab tribal leader Ghazi Yawar, the former president.
The Sunni minority dominated Iraq under Saddam, whose ousted regime oppressed Shias and massacred Kurds.
"This is the new Iraq - an Iraq that elects a Kurd to be president and an Arab former president as his deputy," parliament speaker Hajem al-Hassani said.
In Kurdish towns across northern Iraq, residents danced in the streets, waved Kurdish flags and posters of Talabani, and honked their car horns. Kurds also celebrated in Kirkuk, where ethnic tensions have been mounting due to competing Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen claims on the strategic oil city.
Turkey welcomed Mr Talabani's appointment, despite its fears that growing Kurdish influence in Iraq could fuel demands by the 12 million Kurds in Turkey for greater autonomy.
Hailed by a standing ovation in parliament, Mr Talabani pledged to work together with all ethnic and religious factions to rebuild Iraq.
US President Bush said in a statement: "The Iraqi people have shown their commitment to democracy and we, in turn, are committed to Iraq." A White House spokesman told reporters that Mr Bush had called Mr Talabani to congratulate him.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also offered Mr Talabani his congratulations in a statement from a spokeswoman and offered UN support to the government in its efforts to write a constitution and rebuild Iraq.
The Islamist-led Shia alliance that won a slim majority in the parliamentary election and the Kurdish coalition that came second have been arguing for weeks over sharing power.
They have also been trying to include representatives of the Sunni Arab minority that dominated Iraq for decades but was left sidelined after most Sunni Arabs stayed away from the January polls due to intimidation and calls for a boycott. There are only 17 Sunni Arab lawmakers in the 275-member parliament.
Disagreement over which Sunni Arab would be vice-president held up a deal, but political leaders decided late on Tuesday to favour Mr Yawar over elder statesman Adnan Pachachi, who was once foreign minister before Saddam came to power. Now the president and his two deputies have been appointed they must name a prime minister within two weeks.
Kurds and Shias have agreed Islamist Shia leader Ibrahim Jaafari should be prime minister, taking over from Iyad Allawi. Mr Jaafari is expected to be appointed tomorrow.
Meanwhile, a US soldier was killed in Baghdad when guerrillas ambushed a patrol with a roadside bomb and then opened fire, the American military said. On Tuesday, the military said four US soldiers had been killed in attacks in Iraq.