April 28, 2005 - (London Free Press) Iraq's new prime minister said yesterday he submitted a slate of 36 cabinet members, including seven women, a critical step before the National Assembly votes on a new government drawing in main ethnic and religious groups and ending a three-month stalemate. The announcement came hours after gunmen killed a Shiite Muslim legislator in her home, the first elected official slain since the country's landmark vote for parliament on Jan. 30. A deadline set by Iraqi militants threatening to kill three kidnapped Romanian journalists and their translator lapsed with no word on their fate.

The kidnapping and killing underscored fears the prolonged delay in naming a government had emboldened insurgents, who have staged a series of dramatic and well-co-ordinated attacks in recent weeks.

Prime minister-designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who could have forfeited his post had he not formed a government by May 7, struggled to reconcile the competing demands of Iraq's myriad factions.

"The Iraqis will find that this government has religious, ethnic, political and geographic variety, in addition to the participation of women," al-Jaafari told reporters on the steps of his office. "Now that the process has started, we will spare no effort to bring back a smile to children's faces."

He gave the list to President Jalal Talabani and his two vice-presidents for approval before presenting it to the National Assembly today.

Talabani already indicated he would not exercise his veto, and al-Jaafari was confident the list would clear parliament. A formal handover between outgoing Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and his successor will take place in the coming days, al-Jaafari said.

While releasing no names, al-Jaafari said his cabinet would include 32 ministers and at least three deputy premiers, besides himself.

The cabinet would have 17 Shiite Arab ministers, eight Kurds, six Sunni Arabs and one Christian, fulfilling promises by leaders of the Shiite majority to share power with ethnic and religious minorities, legislators said. Seven of the ministers would be women, al-Jaafari said.

Members of al-Jaafari's United Iraqi Alliance said the deputy prime ministers would come from each of Iraq's main Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.

The Shiite deputy would be former Pentagon favourite Ahmad Chalabi, head of an Iraqi exile group that provided intelligence to the U.S. on Saddam Hussein's weapons programs, said Chalabi's spokesperson, Entifadh Qanbar.

The Kurdish deputy would be former vice-president Rowsch Nouri Shaways, according to Fouad Massoum, a senior Kurdish official.

From: http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2005/04/28/1016202-sun.html