Nuclear scientist contender for Iraq PM post

A Shiite Muslim nuclear scientist is among those being considered for Iraq’s prime minister, officials said today as UN and US envoys and Iraqi leaders poured over names to fill the 30 top spots in the next government.

UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is due to announce by Monday the makeup of the caretaker government due to take power on June 30, a key step in US plans to hand over authority to the Iraqis.

Brahimi is helping work out who will serve as president, prime minister, two vice presidents and 26 Cabinet ministers, while trying to strike a balance among Iraq’s Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions.

The balance is vital to ensuring the stability of an administration that will run Iraq until elections due by January 31.

Brahimi is “crunching names” and “going flat out trying to reach consensus” on the leadership, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said Tuesday.

The post of prime minister, which will hold executive powers, appears to have been earmarked for a member of Iraq’s Shiite majority.

A Sunni will likely be president, who is to serve as the symbolic head of state.

A new name emerged as a possible candidate for prime minister: scientist Hussain al-Shahristani, who was jailed under Saddam Hussein’s regime - reportedly for refusing to help build a nuclear weapon – and who has been a sharp critic of the US occupation.

Brahimi has said he prefers “technocrats”, as opposed to traditional politicians, for the new government, and al-Shahristani would fit that qualification.

Al-Shahristani also appears to be close to Iraq’s top Shiite ayatollah, a powerbroker whose consent would likely be needed for the position.

But while a UN diplomat confirmed that al-Shahristani was a candidate, he said no decision has been made. “We’re not there yet,” the diplomat said.

Others who have been touted as possible prime ministers include Mehdi Hafedh, the current planning minister, and Adel Abdel-Mahdi, a leading figure in Iraq’s largest Shiite political party.

The name most often mentioned for the president’s post is Adnan Pachachi, a former foreign minister from pre-Saddam governments and a respected Sunni member of the Governing Council.

Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani is also a possible candidate for a top spot, the UN diplomat said, though Kurdish parties have eased off demands that they receive either the president’s or prime minister’s spot.