BAGHDAD, May 29: Leading Iraqi politicians said on Saturday they had all but agreed the composition of a new interim government to take power next month but others cautioned that negotiations were not yet completed.

A day after Iraq's US-appointed Interim Governing Council (IGC) chose Iyad Allawi as prime minister, senior Council member Ahmad Chalabi said the names of key ministers had been agreed with the United States and a UN envoy, but that discussions were continuing on the posts of president and two vice presidents.

Technocrat Thamir Ghadban, who briefly ran Iraq's vital oil industry after Saddam Hussein's fall, was nominated as oil minister, said Mr Chalabi, a relative of Mr Allawi who ran a rival exile party and has recently fallen out of favour with Washington.

Ahmad Chalabi said Hoshiyar Zebari, the current foreign minister, would be defence minister while another Kurd, Barham Salih, would take over the foreign ministry.-Reuters