Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani has been sworn in as the new interim president of Iraq.
It happened a day after he was elected to the largely ceremonial post by parliament, ending weeks of deadlock.
The ceremony took place before the parliament in the heavily- fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad.
The president and his two deputies now have the task of nominating Iraq's prime minister - the most powerful position in the new government.
They are expected to name Shia politician Ibrahim Jaafari soon.
"We have to continue dialogue to complete a full understanding with our brothers, the Sunni Arabs - terrorism is the major block standing in the way of stability"
Mr Talabani's deputies, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a Shia, and the outgoing President, Ghazi Yawer, a Sunni, have also taken the oath of office.
"We will rebuild the Iraqi government on principles of democracy, human rights... and the Islamic identity of the Iraqi government," Mr Talabani told a special session of parliament.
"The constitution will reinforce the people's reconciliation in Iraq... without any element of discrimination," Mr Talabani promised.
"[It will] preserve the liberty for all, where all the citizens, whether Shia or Sunni, will be brothers.
"We have to continue dialogue to complete a full understanding with our brothers, the Sunni Arabs - terrorism is the major block standing in the way of stability."
Mr Talabani becomes the only non-Arab head of state of a majority Arab country.
'Kurdish victory'
The Shia and Kurdish blocs agreed the nomination of the presidential team with Sunni parties on Tuesday, after weeks of political haggling since January's election.
Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein watched the session on television in jail, officials said.
Members of the new parliament, dressed in tribal robes, business suits and religious garments, cast their secret ballots for the three-man presidency council in the assembly inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.
PRESIDENCY COUNCIL
The votes were then counted publicly.
The three candidates received 227 votes, while 30 ballots were left blank, according to AP news agency.
The appointment of Mr Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, is a major political victory for Iraq's Kurdish community, which suffered greatly under Saddam Hussein.
It makes room for his long-time rival - Kurdistan Democratic Party chief Massoud Barzani - to head an autonomous government in the Kurdish region in the north of Iraq.
Kurdish MP and outgoing Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said a new cabinet headed by Mr Jaafari would be approved "within a few days", AFP reported.
The transitional government's main task will be to oversee the drafting of a permanent Iraqi constitution and to pave the way for elections in December.
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