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Iraqi president sworn in

BAGHDAD, April 7 (UPI) -- Iraq's new President Jalal Talabani was sworn in Thursday as Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shiite, was designated to form the new government.

Talabani, 71, a Kurdish leader and head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, took the oath on the Holy Koran at a ceremony held in the heavily-guarded Green Zone in central Baghdad and amid strict security measures.

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At the same time, Talabani's two deputies, Adel Abdel Mehdi, a Shiite and Ghazi al-Yawer, the Sunni former transitional president, were also sworn in.

Prime minister-designate Jaafari has a period of two weeks to form the new government from the day he is officially appointed.

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