Iraq's Kurdish parliament opens

Parliament in the Kurdish autonomous region of Iraq has held its first session in the northern city of Irbil.

After recitations from the Koran, all 111 deputies took oaths of office under Kurdish national flags.

Iraq's President, Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, attended the session, as well as the newly-elected President of the autonomous region, Massoud Barzani.

The two men who lead rival parties have effectively ruled the Kurdish region since the end of the Gulf War in 1991.

Talabani appeal

The parliament had been due to open in April but the move was delayed because of disagreements between Mr Talabani and Mr Barzani over who would be the regional president.

We are faced with terrorism fuelled by orphans of Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, we must unite to fight this phenomenon Jalal Talabani Kurdish stronghold

Mr Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Mr Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) last week agreed that Mr Barzani should take the post.

Addressing the session on Saturday, Mr Talabani urged deputies to work for a democratic federal system in a country split along the sectarian lines.

"Your democratically elected parliament faces a critical period in the history of Iraq," he said.

"Our sacred task is to draft a permanent constitution that guarantees equality for all of Iraqi society and protects democratic and federal freedoms."

Mr Talabani also made an appeal to Iraq's Sunni minority - which dominated the political life under Saddam Hussein's rule - to participate fully in the country's new institutions.

The session was broadcast live on Kurdish television.

Most Iraqi Kurds are Sunni Muslims and make up nearly 20% of the country's population.

The KDP and PUK have 75 deputies in Iraq's 275-member national parliament.