Reuters>

BAGHDAD (April 6) - Two months after elections, Iraq's new government> finally began to take shape Wednesday as lawmakers elected as president a> Kurdish leader who promised to represent all ethnic and religious groups

a session broadcast across the country - and shown to Saddam Hussein in

jail cell.>

A prominent Shiite Arab was expected to be named on Thursday as prime> minister, the most powerful post in what will be Iraq's first

Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani was chosen for the largely ceremonial job of> president, while Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a Shiite, and current interim President> Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab, were elected vice presidents.>

Talabani's selection and the expected choice of Ibrahim al-Jaafari as

Talabani, 71, reached out to all sectors of the country, appealing for

He also urged Iraqi insurgents, who are believed to be mostly Sunni Arabs,> to sit down and talk with the new government.>

President Bush called Wednesday's session a ''momentous step forward in> Iraq's transition to democracy.''>

''The Iraqi people have shown their commitment to democracy and we, in

Saddam and 11 of his top aides were given the choice of watching a tape of> the National Assembly session in their prison and all chose to do so, said> Bakhtiar Amin, human rights minister in the outgoing interim government.>

Amin said Saddam watched by himself, while the others viewed it as a group> at their undisclosed detention center, which is believed to be near> Baghdad's airport.>

''I imagine he was upset,'' Amin said. ''He must have realized that the

of his government was over, and that there was no way he was returning to> office.''>

Iraq's new presidential council, made up of the president and his two> deputies, is to be sworn in Thursday. The three are then expected to> immediately name the prime minister.>

Lawmakers can then start to draft a permanent constitution, which is> supposed to be finished by Aug. 15.>

Among the touchiest issues that remain are whether the oil city of Kirkuk> should be part of the autonomous Kurdish region, what role Islam should

Negotiators had agreed on Talabani for the president's job weeks ago, but> news of his formal election was greeted with dancing in the streets of the> Kurdish north.>

''Today Jalal Talabani made it to the seat of power, while Saddam Hussein

sitting in jail,'' said Mohammed Saleh, a 42-year-old Kurd in Kirkuk.

When the results were announced, legislators swarmed around Talabani,> hugging and kissing him. Members gave him a standing ovation and tears> welled up in the eyes of some Kurdish lawmakers and Talabani's relatives> attending the session.>

''This is the new Iraq,'' said parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani, a

Kurds make up about 20 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, and won 75 of> the 275 seats in parliament. A Shiite alliance holds 140 seats.>

Sunni Arabs, who make up 15 percent to 20 percent of the population, have> only 17 seats, largely because they boycotted the election or stayed home> out of fear of attacks.>

Lawmakers tried to reach out to Sunni Arabs by naming al-Yawer and> al-Hassani to top posts.>

But prominent Sunni Arab groups distanced themselves from the new> government.>

''We are not related to any process in this matter of choosing

World leaders congratulated Talabani on his post, and U.N.

As parliament met, mortar rounds exploded in a street across the Tigris> River. A blast left a crater near the Ministry of Agriculture and the> al-Sadeer hotel and injured at least one Iraqi civilian. The target of the> attack was unclear, but the hotel, which has housed foreign contractors,

been attacked in the past.>

Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin, Qasim Abdul-Zahra and Sameer> Yacoub contributed to this report.>

AP-NY-04-06-05 19:23 EDT>

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