BAGHDAD, June 10 (UPI) -- Barham Saleh, Iraq's Kurdish designate-vice premier, Thursday balked at assuming his new post, demanding a clear definition of his powers and prerogatives.
Barham, who had met several times with Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, was unhappy with the vague definitions of his post as the vice premier for national security affairs, official sources said.
The Kurdish official told Allawi the Kurdish community will no longer accept, what he called "symbolic and ceremonial posts."
"I will not accept or allow myself to occupy a figurative position ...," Barham was quoted by the sources as telling Allawi.
The Kurdish official returned to Suleimaniyah in the Kurdish enclave north of Iraq controlled by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan led by Jalal Talabani and said he would not return to Baghdad before his powers are clearly defined.
Barham's attitude also reflected Kurdish frustration with the U.N. resolution on Iraq sovereignty which had failed to mention the State's Administration Law for the transitional period under which Kurdish self-autonomy was guaranteed.
