The contrast between the two candidates is stark and reveals a division within the clergy-endorsed alliance, made up of 10 major political parties and various allied smaller groups.

Al-Jaafari, 58, is the leader of the religious Dawa Party, one of Iraq's oldest parties, known for its popularity and close ties to Iran. Although al-Jaafari is a moderate, his party's platform is conservative.

Chalabi, 58, who left Iraq as a teen, leads the Iraqi National Congress and had close ties to the Pentagon before falling out of favor last year after claims he passed intelligence information to Iran.

A secular Shiite, Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress is an umbrella for groups that included Iraqi exiles, Kurds and Shiites. Much of the intelligence his group supplied on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction programs failed to pan out.

Al-Jaafari was considered the leading contender Wednesday, though Chalabi's aides said their man had enough votes to win.

"The talks are still going on among the members of the alliance to choose the suitable person for the post of prime minister," al-Jaafari said Thursday. "I am happy that everyone who thinks himself eligible is free and can be nominated."

A close aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiite Muslims, said the alliance's leaders will visit the cleric's office in Najaf to get his blessing for their choice. In the event they cannot agree, al-Sistani will make the final decision, the aide said.

Kurdish parties apparently have agreed to support the alliance's candidate for prime minister in return for the largely ceremonial presidency. But officials said they would not accept a theocracy.

"We will reject and we won't allow the establishment of a theocratic state; we want separation between religion and state," said Noshirwan Mustafa, an aide to Jalal Talabani, the Sunni Kurd and leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan who is expected to become president.

Sunni Arabs, favored under Saddam Hussein's rule, largely stayed away from the polls. But the Shiites must move cautiously if they want to form an inclusive government.

The government that does take power will face the tough challenge of quelling a violent insurgency, largely being waged by Sunni extremists.

Insurgents detonated a bomb Thursday as a convoy of U.S. troops and Iraqi National Guardsmen traveled on a road in Hawija, wounding seven Iraqi troops, Iraqi Maj. Gen. Anwar Mohammad Amin. No Americans were hurt, he said.

In western Baghdad, Iraqi and U.S. forces detained seven suspected insurgents during a joint raid, Interior Ministry Capt. Sabah Yasin said.

Also, gunmen opened fire on patrolling Iraqi National Guardsmen in Hillah, 60 miles south of the capital, sparking a shootout that killed two suspected insurgents and wounded three Guardsmen, Maj. Fatik Iyd said.