Related: Shiite leader named Iraqi PM

Iraq¡¯s newly elected President Jalal al-Talabani (2nd, L) takes the oath under the supervision of Medhat al-Mahmoud (1st, L), head of the judicial council, in the parliament during the inauguration ceremony along with his two vice presidents in the US-protected Green Zone in central Baghdad, April 7, 2005.

   April 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq's newly named President Jalal al-Talabani and his two deputies were sworn in on Thursday afternoon in the US-protected Green Zone in Baghdad.

   Talabani was sworn in front of hundreds of lawmakers and religious and political leaders.

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

   Talabani, a veteran Kurdish rebel leader against Saddam Hussein's regime, became the first non-Arab to take the post in the mainly Arab country.

   Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite politician, and Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni leader from a prominent Arabian tribe, were also sworn in as the vice presidents.

   The two, along with Talabani, form the so-called presidential council, which has two weeks to designate a prime minister and ask him to form a transitional government.

   The three presidential members are considered to have equal authority, although their jobs are largely ceremonial ones compared with that of the prime minister. Enditem