Shiite lawmakers Sunday chose Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to lead Iraq's new government, Shiite officials said. According to the AP, Al-Jaafari won 64 votes, one more than Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, officials said. There were two abstentions.
More than 100 lawmakers from the Shiite coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance, gathered to vote.
Shiite lawyers cast their votes at the heavily guarded home of Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the head of Abdul-Mahdi's party.
Al-Jaafari, a physician, is a member of the Dawa Party and spent years in exile in Iran and Britain.
Saddam
The chief lawyer representing Saddam Hussein said Sunday he was wrong in stating that the former Iraqi president and seven co-defendants would start a hunger strike to protest the "illegality" of the court hearing their case.
According to initial reports, the protest was to start on Monday. Khamis al Aubeidi, a leading member of Saddam's defense team, was quoted as saying: "Saddam and his followers will start a hunger strike from tomorrow, protesting the illegitimate procedures and bad treatment by the court." Later, he told The Associated Press "I checked and I was told that the sources were not credible and that there will be no hunger strike on Monday." al-Dulaimi .
Al-Dulaimi said all eight defendants would still boycott the resumption of their trial Monday in Baghdad.
British abuse
Meanwhile, an investigation is underway into a video which apparently shows British soldiers abusing helpless Iraqi civilians. The film shows a group of teenagers being kicked, punched and hit with batons. One can be heard pleading for mercy.
Pictures have been published in the News Of The World, which claims 42 blows were counted in one minute. The tape - filmed during street riots in Basra in 2004 - had been screened at the troops' base before being handed over by a whistleblower.
Four Iraqi youths were dragged from the street into an Army compound, where they were beaten. The British newspaper said the scenes were filmed by a corporal who encouraged colleagues in a running commentary.
One soldier is also seen to kick a dead Iraqi in the face.
