Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says he and Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari have buried their differences and he has no objection to Jaafari heading the new government, set to emerge in the coming weeks. In a statement released late on Monday, Talabani also insisted he would not stay on as president unless the position were beefed up to give him greater powers. "We do not have any veto against the nomination of Jaafari for the position of prime minister," Talabani said, adding that it was for Jaafari's own coalition to nominate their candidate for the premier's job. He played down previous criticism of Jaafari's performance as prime minister, saying it was a thing of the past and that the relationship between the two men was good and would get better, the statement was quoted as saying by Reuters.
