Ibrahim Jafari

Iraq's new Kurdish president named a fellow foe of Saddam Hussein as prime minister Thursday, appointing Ibrahim Jafari, the leader of Iraq's oldest Shiite Muslim party, to the powerful post. President Jalal Talabani's naming of Jafari ended nearly 10 weeks of political bickering among Shiite and Sunni Arabs and Kurds after the nation's Jan. 30 election. The protracted process had angered and dispirited many Iraqis, who felt they had risked their lives to vote.

Beleaguered Iraqis were given new hope that the parliament they elected four months ago would finally form a long-term government after interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari loosened his grip on the top job Thursday. Jafari's fractious Shiite Muslim coalition is to vote today on whether to keep him as its candidate for prime minister or choose a fresh face who might win wider backing from Iraq's disparate ethnic and religious groups.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari outlined plans Tuesday to build a broad-based government to tackle the country's woeful security conditions. Jafari, newly named as his Shiite Muslim coalition's candidate to continue leading the country for the next four years, faced widespread criticism for being ineffective and controlling during his 10-month tenure as the country's top executive.

As a political deadlock continues over the formation of a new Iraqi government, Shiite Muslim leaders have launched a new offensive in favor of beleaguered Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari by trying to drive a wedge between Kurds and Sunni Arabs who oppose Jafari's winning a full term in office. Jafari and his supporters have suggested that Iraq's presidency could be awarded to a Sunni rather than a Kurd, sowing a potential rift between the two groups who, until now, have joined to fight Jafari.

Ibrahim Jafari, a Muslim scholar and leader of Iraq's oldest Islamist party, was unanimously nominated as prime minister Tuesday by the Shiite-led alliance that carried the country's historic elections last month, and his confirmation by the national assembly seemed all but assured. The selection of Jafari opens the way for the first Shiite-led government in Iraq's modern existence, and it signals a dramatic change for the Arab world, where Sunni Muslims are dominant.

Prominent Shiite politicians deserted beleaguered Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari on Saturday and revealed that they had started looking for a less polarizing figure who could help overcome differences blocking the formation of a unity government. Kurdish, Sunni Arab and secular blocs all have lined up against Jafari, but members of the governing Shiite bloc had stuck with him. U.S.

He is a soft-spoken general practitioner whose life's work has been guiding a secretive Islamic party in exile in Iran and Britain. It has made him both resolute and cautious. He doesn't even use his real family name. Now the ascetic man in the background, Ibrahim Jafari, could end up as the prime minister of Iraq. Jafari isn't the only candidate hoping to lead the new transitional government after its historic election Jan. 30.

Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari ignored a purported Al Qaeda threat and visited here Monday to congratulate Iraqi forces for rousting militants, Iraqi television reported. The state-controlled Al Iraqiya channel, which showed no pictures, said Jafari had gone to Tall Afar despite insurgents' threat to unleash chemical and biological weapons against the 5,000 Iraqi soldiers and commandos, backed by 3,500 U.S. troops, who stormed the city Saturday.

The Shiite Muslim politician likely to be Iraq's next prime minister said Saturday that the country's long-awaited government could be formed within days, ending nearly two months of tortured negotiations since the nation's historic Jan. 30 vote. "God willing, the government could witness its birth in the coming few days," Ibrahim Jafari said. Members of the country's new 275-member National Assembly were sworn in during the first session March 16.

Iraq's Kurdish president said Saturday that he had joined Sunni Arab and secular politicians in trying to block interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari from a second term because the Shiite leader had become a divisive figure. President Jalal Talabani's remarks were his first explanation for Wednesday's move against Jafari by the Kurdish Alliance, Sunni Arab National Accordance Front and the secular Iraqi National List. "I want to be clear, it is not against Dr. Jafari as a person.

Iraq's ruling political coalition, under stress for weeks, is now in danger of an open rupture that could split the nation's Shiite-majority bloc, Iraqi officials said. For several weeks, U.S. officials and rival Iraqi politicians have been intensifying pressure on interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari to step aside. The most recent such move came Tuesday, when Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi publicly called for Jafari to quit.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital amid a months-long political crisis, publicly questioned the leadership of interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari, the strongest indication yet that the United States wants him out of contention as head of Iraq's permanent government.

Prominent Shiite politicians deserted beleaguered Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari on Saturday and revealed that they had started looking for a less polarizing figure who could help overcome differences blocking the formation of a unity government. Kurdish, Sunni Arab and secular blocs all have lined up against Jafari, but members of the governing Shiite bloc had stuck with him. U.S.

In an effort to break a deadlock in forming Iraq's new government, the Bush administration has notified the leading Shiite Muslim alliance that it opposes the nomination of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari for another term in office, a U.S. official and Shiite politician said Tuesday. The message from the White House relayed by the U.S. ambassador comes amid growing strain on relations between the United States and the Shiite bloc that heads Iraq's transitional administration.

When Jalal Talabani was sworn in to Saddam Hussein's old job last April, the veteran Kurdish leader defined himself as a father figure who would use the presidency to bridge Iraq's ethnic and sectarian divides and conduct its foreign affairs as a traveling head of state.

Iraq's Kurdish president said Saturday that he had joined Sunni Arab and secular politicians in trying to block interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari from a second term because the Shiite leader had become a divisive figure. President Jalal Talabani's remarks were his first explanation for Wednesday's move against Jafari by the Kurdish Alliance, Sunni Arab National Accordance Front and the secular Iraqi National List. "I want to be clear, it is not against Dr. Jafari as a person.

A few Shiite Muslim members of Iraq's National Assembly were miffed and may have suspected betrayal Thursday as Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani delivered his presidential inaugural address. The ceremonial president, whose most important job is naming a prime minister, forgot to announce the choice: Ibrahim Jafari, head of Iraq's oldest Shiite party. After the assembly session had adjourned and TV cameras had left the room, Talabani rushed back to the stage to hastily make his announcement.

Iraqi lawmakers overwhelmingly approved an ethnically and religiously diverse Cabinet on Thursday, but gaping holes in the new administration and continued sectarian wrangling marred the historic day. Five ministries, including oil and defense, received only caretaker chiefs. Two deputy premierships also remained unfilled, indicating that the long negotiations to seat the nation's first freely elected government in half a century were not yet concluded.

Faced with parliamentary insurrection, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari is doing what politicians have done throughout the ages: He's going straight to the people. On a recent television show, a couple pleaded with Jafari for help in caring for their two blind daughters. With equal parts efficiency and benevolence, he immediately promised money and medical treatment. Overwhelmed by gratitude, the father fainted.

A political conflict threatened to further exacerbate Iraq's sectarian and ethnic divisions Thursday as Kurdish and Sunni Arab leaders issued a letter demanding that the leading Shiite Muslim coalition withdraw its nomination of interim Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari to head the next government.