Iraq's newly elected parliament is expected to choose a new president Wednesday. Lawmakers agreed Tuesday the Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani would be named as the new president and Shiite Adel Abdul-Mahdi and interim President Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab, his two vice presidents.
Kurdish negotiator and outgoing foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari conveyed an agreement on the new cabinet to be led by Shiite Ibrahim al-Jafaari was also largely complete and that it would be approved "within a few days." Jaafari is expected to be officially appointed tomorrow, political leaders said.