Iraqi Shiites Nominate Jafari for Top Position

Kurdish leaders, who run a largely autonomous region in northern Iraq, have argued with Jafari over who will control the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. Sunni Arabs, who once received preferential treatment under Hussein, now complain of abuses at the hands of government security forces dominated by Shiite militias. Others worry about Jafari's close ties to the Islamic theocracy in Iran, where the Shiite leader spent several years in exile during Hussein's reign.

"I think the alliance has committed a big strategic mistake," said Tariq Hashimi, the secretary general of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni group. "Jafari's name is connected to a government that has won a record for the weakest performance in the country." His name is also "connected to all the human rights abuse scandals in the country," Hashimi said.

Jafari's first order of business is to form a government, a process that could take months. Among the thorniest questions are how many Sunnis will enter the government and, in particular, who will assume the important posts of defense minister and interior minister. Sunni leaders have expressed a desire to control at least one of the security posts in the hope that they can rein in abuses by the police and Shiite militias.

If Jafari chooses "new ministers of no ethnic motivations and no background of corruption, there will be a chance to cooperate with him," said Saleh Mutlak, who heads one of the Sunni parties. "Generally, the performance will depend on the cabinet he'd choose, not only on him."

The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, echoed Mutlak's sentiments in an op-ed piece published in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday. While U.S. officials have expressed a preference for secular leaders in the past, they have said in several official statements that they will accept the outcome of elections so long as the leaders are effective.

"Elected leaders need to govern from the center, not the ideological extremes," Khalilzad wrote. "This is particularly true in the security area, where the new government must continue increasing the capability of Iraqi security forces while ensuring that Defense and Interior Ministry officials are chosen on the basis of competence, not ethnic or sectarian background."

At a news conference Sunday, Jafari's opponents in the Shiite alliance said they would unite behind their nominee despite the fractious process of choosing him.

"We all stand beside him as one hand to do the job that the alliance, the next government and the parliament are tasked with," Mahdi said.

For his part, Jafari, looking ashen-faced behind the podium, said he was wary of taking a job with so many perils.

"The smile on my lips would have been wider if I were excused of this responsibility," he said.

Special correspondents Omar Fekeiki, Bassam Sebti and Salih Saif Aldin contributed to this report.