BAGHDAD, May 26: Iraq's new government is taking shape, with US officials leaking names of a prime minister and president, but confusion remained on Wednesday over what power, if any, they would have over a vast US army in the country.

Five weeks before the interim government is due to take over from the US occupation authority on June 30, US officials said the prime minister would be Hussain Shahristani, a Shia.

Mr Shahristani, a nuclear scientist, said he did not want the job but was ready to shoulder the responsibility of steering Iraq to elections. Mr Shahristani said: "The consultations have not been concluded yet and Mr Brahimi has not made his recommendation.

"I personally prefer to serve the people of Iraq in humanitarian fields as I have done since my escape from Abu Ghraib in 1991," he wrote in an e-mail. "However, putting the country on route to democracy and protecting the population from terrorists and violence is the responsibility of Iraqis, and we have to burden that responsibility." -Reuters