As Saddam Hussein watched from a television in his cell, Iraq's national assembly today appointed one of his most tenacious opponents to the office of president, taking a significant step in forming a new government and breaking a political deadlock nearly 10 weeks after general elections.

The assembly voted in Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish leader, as president; Adel Abdul Mahdi, a prominent Shiite Arab politician, as vice president, and Sheik Ghazi al-Yawar, the Sunni Arab president of the interim government, as the other vice president. The three men are expected to take their oaths of office on Thursday and may name a prime minister on the same day, assembly members said.

Question: You and the KDP leader Massoud Barzani defend federalism. However, most Kurds want an independent state. How will you solve this problem?

Answer: This is not completely correct. Obviously people dream of independence. However, even when you discuss with those with extremist tendencies, they come to see federalism as the best solution. How will we survive in the case of our neighbours closing the borders? The Kurdish people, like other peoples in the world, have the right to govern themselves, the right to self-determination is included in this. But, in reality, it is not possible to establish an independent state.

...while there is not democratic regime there will be no solution for Kurdish problem or other problems. I always say that democracy is the panacea for all problems of Iraq, including Kurdish problem.

Kurds will never submit to an Islamic order. Today, there is a new Republic of Iraq. We now have a second republic, just like France produced its second, third and fourth republic. We are reconstructing Iraq. A consensus should be established during this transition; here it is not a question of a majority or a minority. Iraq is made mainly up of three groups. These are the Kurds, Sunni Arabs and Shias. These three groups should establish a consensus on important points, such as democracy, human rights, federalism, women’s rights, Iraq’s independence and integrity. In the Governing Council, we defended in an alliance a democratic and federal Republic of Iraq that recognises Islam. Here, there is no room for Islamic rule.

Question: Is there another solution to the problem rather than a military one?

Answer: We have three groups in front of us. Those that come from abroad and whose allies are Ansar al Islam and Tevhid and Jihad, those close to the old regime and Islamic fundamentalists like the Wahhabis. Groups such as Al Qaeda and Ansar Al Islam should be wiped out. For the others there remains a political option. We can establish a dialogue with the Iraqis. We can accept their rejection of the Americans, but they have to do this in a democratic and peaceful way.

News of Saddam's capture broke late on Saturday 14 December when Talabani told the Iranian news agency IRNA the former Iraqi president had been detained near Tikrit.

Kurds in the north of the country were openly celebrating early on Sunday - hours before the US military in Baghdad announced it had Saddam in custody.

The DEBKAfile, a website reputed to be edited by former Israeli intelligence agents, says that "seven anomalies point to one conclusion: Saddam Hussein was not in hiding; he was a prisoner." Among these "anomolies" are the length of his hair and beard, and that he appeared "beaten and hungry." The self-described DEBKAfile "analysts" believe that "his captors bargained for the $25 million prize the Americans promised for information leading to his capture alive or dead. The negotiations were mediated by Jalal Talabani's Kurdish PUK militia."

If the Kurds did indeed capture Saddam first, and a deal was struck about his handover to the US, then it’s not inconceivable that the terms might have included strong political and strategic advantages that could ultimately determine the emerging power structure in Iraq.

a Kurd has just been named President of an Arab country, and his position comes as the result of a national democratic election.

For his part, Saddam Hussein, who murdered 5000 thousands of Kurds with chemical weapons in a single afternoon in 1988, gets to watch all this from his jail cell—his two murderous sons sleeping the eternal dirt sleep and he awaits a trial that will almost certainly condemn him to death.

God bless America.