Iraq"s parliament on Wednesday confirmed the Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as the country"s largely ceremonial president, and a Sunni and Shia as vice-presidents, clearing the way for the formation of a government after over two months of political logjam.

The three are expected to appoint the Shia leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari as prime minister later on Thusday, and he in turn will choose a cabinet, a step parliamentary deputies said could happen within a few days.

The two main blocs in parliament, the Shia-led United Iraqi Alliance and a Kurdish coalition, had agreed last month on the positions to be held by Mr Jaafari and Mr Talabani, but a final settlement had been held up by disagreements over the policies, over the distribution of other ministries, and finally over who should have the posts of speaker and vice-president, which had been designated for Sunni.

On Monday night, negotiators for the two main blocs decided to appoint the outgoing President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawer, a tribal leader from northern Iraq, as the Sunni vice-president, with the Shia position going to the outgoing finance minister Adel Abd al-Mahdi. Last week Hajem al-Hassani was appointed speaker.

In a show of consensus after weeks of bickering, the three ran unopposed on a single slate, taking 227 out of 257 ballots cast, with the other 30 ballots blank.

Delegates at the session hailed the ethnic diversity of Iraq"s new leaders, as well as the rare example of a peaceful transfer of power in the region.

"This is the new Iraq, an Iraq where a Kurdish citizen is elected to be president of the country and a former Arab president becomes his deputy," said Mr Hassani.

Lawmakers had earlier said that ousted President Saddam Hussein and his deputies, under detention at a US-guarded prison, would watch the new president"s election on television from their prison cells.

Negotiators for the main blocs said talks would continue on the distribution of ministries but a rough division of the four most important cabinet posts had been arranged.

The interior and finance portfolios would go to the Shia-led alliance, the foreign ministry would go to the Kurds, and the defence ministry would go to a Sunni, negotiators said.

However, Kurdish negotiators said that the oil ministry - considered only slightly less important than the other four - was still being discussed.

In a sign of forward political momentum, Iraq"s parliament began for the first time on Wednesday to pass resolutions. Responding to deputies who objected to meeting under the guard of foreign troops, the parliament resolved to move to a new building outside central Baghdad"s US-controlled "Green Zone".

The body also laid complaints about alleged last-minute appointments by Iyad Allawi, the outgoing prime minister, to the army and police force.

The latter issue may be among the most divisive that the parliament will handle, as some Shia parties want to purge former members of Mr Hussein"s Ba"ath party whom they claim Mr Allawi brought into the security services.