"The formation of organizations on an ethnic basis is a rejected principle," Nabil Mawsawi, deputy leader of the Iraqi National Congress, told Radio Cairo in an interview over phone.

"The council mirrors Iraq's genuine reality," said Mawsawi, whose party is one of main exile groups that opposed former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"The formation of the council is the first step in the right direction to restore Iraq's sovereignty," he said.

On Sunday, the US-backed council was inaugurated in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad as a major step toward democracy and reconstruction.

The council became the first national executive body in the war-torn country following Saddam's ouster on April 9, triggered by a US-led war on Iraq.

The council is composed of 13 Shiites, five Sunnis, five Kurds, one Christian and one Turkman, roughly reflecting Iraq's religious and ethnic make-up.

About 60 percent of Iraq's 24 million people are Shiite Muslims, but the country has been ruled by Sunnis for decades.

Among the council members are Ahmed Chalabi, chief of the Iraqi National Congress; Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, a leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution, and Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani, leaders of the two main Kurdish groups.

The 25-member governing body will have the power to appoint ministers, approve national budget and select members of a committee to draft a new constitution. But top US civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has a final say.

(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2003)