Iraqi Cabinet nominees named

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's new prime minister said Wednesday he submitted a complete list of 36 Cabinet members, including seven women, a critical step before the National Assembly votes on a new government drawing in the main ethnic and religious groups and ending a three-month stalemate.\nThe announcement came hours after gunmen killed a Shiite Muslim lawmaker in her home -- the first elected official slain since the country's landmark vote for parliament on Jan. 30. And a deadline set by Iraqi militants threatening to kill three kidnapped Romanian journalists and their Iraqi-American translator lapsed with no word on their fate.\nThe kidnapping and killing underscored fears the prolonged delay in naming a government had emboldened insurgents, who have staged a series of dramatic and well-coordinated attacks in recent weeks.\nPrime 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.\n"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."\nHe gave the list to President Jalal Talabani and his two vice presidents for approval before presenting it to the National Assembly on Thursday.\nTalabani 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.\nWhile releasing no names, al-Jaafari said his Cabinet would include 32 ministers and at least three deputy premiers, in addition to himself. A fourth deputy could also be added, he said, offering no explanation.\nThe 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, lawmakers said. Seven of the ministers would be women, al-Jaafari said.\nMembers of al-Jaafari's United Iraqi Alliance said the deputy premiers would come from each of Iraq's main Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.\nThe Shiite deputy would be former Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi, head of an Iraqi exile group that provided intelligence to the United States on Saddam Hussein's weapons programs, said Chalabi's spokesman, Entifadh Qanbar, and other alliance members.\nThe Kurdish deputy would be former Vice President Rowsch Nouri Shaways, according to Fouad Massoum, a senior Kurdish official, and Shiite lawmakers.\nSaad Zedan Lehebi was al-Jaafari's initial choice for the Sunni deputy, but Shiite leaders raised concerns that he might have been a member of Saddam's Baath Party, which brutally repressed the majority Shiites and Kurds, said alliance lawmaker Baha al-Aaragi. It was not immediately clear who was selected in his place.\nSaadon Al-Dulaimi, a Sunni, was al-Jaafari's initial choice for defense minister but was rejected for the same reason, al-Aaragi said. It wasn't known who replaced him on the list.\nShiite lawmakers said Allawi's Iraqi List party, which has 40 seats in the National Assembly, was not included in the new Cabinet. They said they had given up trying to balance Allawi's demands with those of Sunni factions that could offer help in beginning talks with Sunni militants, who are believed to be the backbone of the insurgency.\nMany Shiites have long resented the secular Allawi, accusing his outgoing administration of including former Baathists in the government and security forces.\nShiites make up 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people. The Kurds make up 20 percent, and the Sunni Arabs, who largely stayed away from the elections either in boycott or for fear of attacks, are roughly 15 percent to 20 percent.