By EDWARD WONG - New York Times - Published: April 7, 2005

AGHDAD, Iraq, April 6 - A Kurdish militia leader who fought Saddam Hussein for decades was named president on Wednesday by Iraq's national assembly as Mr. Hussein watched the proceedings on a television inside his prison.The militia leader, Jalal Talabani, will be the first Kurd to serve as president of an Arab-dominated country. But immediately after his appointment, tensions among Iraq's political groups erupted, as some Shiite and Kurdish members of the assembly demanded that the interim government resign as soon as Mr. Talabani, 72, is sworn in on Thursday.

That government, led by Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, has infuriated many officials from the main Shiite and Kurdish parties, which will dominate the new administration. They accuse Dr. Allawi, a secular Shiite, of having brought back into the government former senior members of the Baath Party who played key roles in oppressing ordinary Iraqis, especially Shiites and Kurds.

The debate on Wednesday foreshadowed what could be a harsh purging of former Baathists once the new leaders, including the prime minister and cabinet, are installed.

"I think the government should resign after the council takes an oath and assumes its duties," said Fouad Massoum, the former head of the interim assembly, referring to the presidency council, which consists of Mr. Talabani and his two deputies.

Hajim al-Hassani, the speaker of the assembly, shot down the suggestion, saying "this parliament can't change the government."

Iraq's Shiites and Kurds are united on some issues, including their intense distrust of Sunni Arabs, a minority group that ruled the country for decades, and their enmity for the Baath Party. On that count, they are likely to work together to revamp the security forces in the Interior and Defense Ministries, which Dr. Allawi, a former Baathist, filled with his allies.

But the protracted negotiations to form the government, which caused many Iraqis to lose faith in their elected leaders, indicate that the Shiites and Kurds could face heated clashes going forward, as they struggle to write a permanent constitution by mid-August and hold full-term elections at year's end.

The unresolved issues include how much autonomy the Kurds will receive, how oil revenues will be split and what role Islam will play in the new government. As early as Thursday, the national assembly could appoint Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a religious Shiite, as prime minister, the most powerful post in the new government.

The appointment of Mr. Talabani and his two deputies, done by a pro forma vote in the assembly meeting on Wednesday, was the first significant move by the members to install a government. In Washington, President Bush praised the assembly for the step.

"The Iraqi people have shown their commitment to democracy and we, in turn, are committed to Iraq," the president said in a written statement. Bekhtiyar Amin, the human rights minister and a Kurd, said in a telephone interview that Mr. Hussein and 11 of his top aides watched Wednesday's proceedings, held in the fortified Green Zone, on a television in their detention center near the Baghdad airport. The idea to provide Mr. Hussein with a television for the occasion was taken to Mr. Amin by Kosrat Rasoul, a top official in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Kurdish party that Mr. Talabani founded, Mr. Amin said.

"We want them to know that they are not presidents or ministers or anything other than prisoners," Mr. Amin said. "Their time is over."

The appointment of Mr. Talabani brought Kurds out into the streets across Iraqi Kurdistan. People celebrated by waving Kurdish flags, dancing and honking their horns as they drove along crowded roadways. Though some in the north distrust Mr. Talabani and his political machine, most saw the appointment as a historic moment for the Kurds.

Confident in their newfound political muscle, the Kurds are carefully monitoring any moves by the Dawa Islamic Party of Dr. Jaafari and other Shiite parties to enshrine Shariah, or Koranic law. Likewise, the Shiites have chafed at demands by Kurdish leaders that the Kurds retain broad autonomous powers, including maintaining their formidable militia and controlling the vast oil fields around the northern city of Kirkuk.