Talabani offers amnesty to Iraqi insurgents

Jalal Talabani, the first Kurdish president not only in Iraq but in the Arab world, was sworn in as president during yesterday's session.

"I swear by God the great that I will work with devotion to preserve the independence and sover-eignty of Iraq and to preserve its democratic and federal system",Talabani said,

He also proposed an amnesty for insurgents to "give them a chance" to integrate into Iraqi's "democratic process".

Talabani and his two deputies, Abdul Abdul Mahdi and Gazi Al Yawar, also elected yesterday Ebrahim Al Jaffari, a widely-respected figure among Iraqis regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, as prime minister.

Jaffari, a Shiite, promised at a press conference, to form his "government within two weeks, even though I have a month to do it".

Jaafari, who holds a more powerful job than the presidency, has to get the approval of the 275-member Parliament, which can call for writing the draft of the new permanent constitutuion in Iraq, according to the earlier announced steps toward Iraq self-government.

Iraqis will be asked to vote on the proposed constitution by October 15.