By Nelson Hernandez and K.I. Ibrahim
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, April 23, 2006; A12

BAGHDAD, April 22 -- Four months of political paralysis lifted on Saturday when a newly convened parliament chose seven top officials to run Iraq's first long-term government since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

In a largely ceremonial meeting at Baghdad's convention center, the parliament picked Jawad al-Maliki, an outspoken advocate for the country's Shiite Muslim majority, to serve as Iraq's prime minister for the next four years. Maliki, an experienced politician in his mid-fifties, faces the task of mending a nation nearly shattered by decades of war, dictatorship and sectarian rivalry.

"The great thing will be if I succeed in cementing national unity and regaining security, stability and services," Maliki said at a news conference. "We have been able to accomplish several things today, and with these accomplishments we shall complete the building of the new Iraq on the basis of freedom, equality and plurality for all."

The parliament voted to approve Maliki and six others nominated by leaders of Iraq's most powerful political blocs on the basis of a delicate balance among Shiites, Kurds and Sunni Arabs. President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, will retain his post in the new government, and Mahmoud al-Meshhedani, a Sunni Arab, was elected as the parliament's speaker.

Maliki has a month to form a cabinet of officials who will run such key ministries as those that control the army, the police and Iraq's critical oil sector -- a process that could be as vexing as choosing a prime minister was.

U.S. officials have said they hope a government that shares power, backed by competent, nonsectarian ministers, will calm tensions in the divided country, allowing some of the 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq to go home.

"We believe that since the terrorists seek to promote sectarian conflict, the unity government is the right response to the challenge," Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, said at a news conference. A few moments later, he added: "I don't want to mislead you by leading you to believe that the improvement will happen instantaneously."

So far, the process of forming a government has been anything but quick. Since Iraqis voted in parliamentary elections on Dec. 15, progress had been stalled by charges of election fraud and an impasse over whether transitional Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari would be able to keep his post in the face of heavy opposition.

As the politicians argued, more than 1,000 Iraqis died in a wave of sectarian violence triggered by the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra on Feb. 22. On Saturday, a roadside bomb killed five U.S. soldiers south of Baghdad, military authorities reported. Two other bombings killed seven Iraqi police officers in the capital, according to police Lt. Col. Farhan Salih.

Faced with the increasing frustration of the Iraqi public and U.S. officials, Jafari bowed to pressure and gave up his nomination to a new term on Thursday. The next day, leaders of the Shiite parties that make up the largest bloc in parliament nominated Maliki, a senior member of Jafari's Dawa party, to take his place.

After Maliki received an endorsement from the Shiite coalition's full membership on Saturday morning, the parliament approved his nomination, as well as those of Talabani and two deputy presidents and Meshhedani and two deputy speakers. Politicians from a smaller, secular political grouping received no representation, and they left their ballots blank in protest, according to Mahdi al-Hafidh, a secular politician.

Sunni and Kurdish politicians said Maliki would start with a blank slate.

"It's a good step forward, and we will cooperate with him," said Mahmoud Othman, a senior Kurdish politician. "I don't think he's a strong sectarian. Now he's a prime minister, and he has to rule all Iraq, he has to be balanced and objective."

Maliki is known as an unyielding opponent of Hussein's Baath Party. He spent more than 20 years in exile, mostly in Syria, during Hussein's rule, and he led efforts to purge Baathists from military and government jobs after the U.S.-led invasion toppled Hussein in 2003. He has also called for the execution of insurgents convicted of killing Iraqis.

But he also has a reputation as a canny negotiator: He helped put together the country's constitution last year and served as a mediator between U.S. officials and Moqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shiite cleric whose Mahdi Army militia revolted against authorities in 2004.

After the parliament meeting, Maliki said he was committed to disarming Shiite militias, an issue of vital importance to Sunni Arabs, who accuse them of widespread kidnappings and killings. The subject is no less important to Shiite leaders who maintain militia fighters for muscle in political disputes.

"Arms should be in the hands of the government," Maliki said at the news conference. "The law calls for the merging of militias with the armed forces."

In Najaf, a Shiite holy city south of Baghdad, Sadr's brother-in-law responded to the remarks at a news conference in which he said that he was in favor of disbanding the militias but that Shiites needed to remain armed for their own safety.

"The government has no sovereignty or independence as long as the occupation exists in Iraq," Riyadh al-Nouri said, referring to the U.S. presence. "The Sadrists only bear weapons for self-protection. Everyone has the right to protect himself when the government is not able to provide that protection."

Iraqis seemed to greet the long-awaited naming of the new government cheerfully. A smattering of fireworks and celebratory gunfire resounded in Jadriyah, a Shiite area of the capital, and some drivers honked their horns as if they had won a soccer game.

Saturday's session was not without flaws. A broken air conditioner in the parliament's chamber brought the temperature into the 90s, leaving nearly 300 sweating politicians to fan themselves as they elected the seven officials.

Though there were no great surprises, and one candidate for each office, pages went through formalities, passing out ballots that officials later painstakingly counted as an aide drew hash marks on a white board.

Maliki, who was formally chosen by the president and his two deputies, received a round of applause after being selected. He soon emerged from the chamber with Talabani.

"I pledge to you that I shall do all I can in which the interest of Iraq and the Iraqi people comes foremost," Maliki said. "We are going to form a family."

Special correspondents Naseer Nouri and Saad al-Izzi in Baghdad and Saad Sarhan in Najaf contributed to this report.