Iraqi prime minister says he's selected his Cabinet

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's new prime minister announced Wednesday that he had submitted a full list of Cabinet members, opening the way for a multi-ethnic government to assume power and end a three-month political stalemate that has appeared to be fueling violence.

But other officials said some selections, especially of Sunni Arabs and Kurds, were still not certain, leaving open the possibility that the wrangling that has repeatedly delayed the government's formation could persist.

The announcement came just hours after gunmen shot to death a Shiite member of the National Assembly in her Baghdad home, a stark reminder of the security challenges the new government will face. Lamia Abed Khadouri Sakri, a longtime political activist, was shot when she answered the door at her Baghdad home.

The prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite, did not release the list of 32 Cabinet members, saying it needed final approval today by the three-member presidency council and the National Assembly. His aides insisted that those were mere formalities and that President Jalal Talabani and his two deputies had agreed to support the selections.

Al-Jaafari's announcement came nearly three months after hundreds of thousands of Iraqis risked their lives to vote in national elections. Since then, much of the public confidence built up by the elections has been lost, with Iraq's leaders mired in bitter struggles over policy and power-sharing that are likely to persist, in some form, even after the establishment of a new government.

The announcement also followed closely on the heels of personal appeals to Shiite and Kurdish leaders by Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who warned that the continuing political deadlock could be hampering Iraq's ability to respond to a recent increase in insurgent attacks.

Al-Jaafari's Shiite alliance, which controls a narrow majority of seats in the assembly, will hold 17 Cabinet positions, including key posts like the ministries of the interior, oil, finance and national security, Shiite officials said.

The Cabinet will also include eight members of the Kurdish alliance, the second largest bloc; six Sunni Arabs; and one Christian, the officials said. There will also be four deputy prime ministers, and the Cabinet will include several women, al-Jaafari said.

While his aides said the Cabinet was complete, other Shiite officials said decisions had yet to be made about several Sunni Arab nominees who had been members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, including the selection for the Defense Ministry.