Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said in Cairo Monday the formation of a new Iraqi cabinet is a step in the right direction.

"We welcome any development that aims at entrusting the administration of Iraq to an Iraqi authority," Moussa told reporters, when commenting on the cabinet appointed by the US-backed Iraqi Interim Governing Council.

He said Arab countries have given him positive response to the council's request to attend an Arab foreign ministers meeting to be held in Cairo on Sept. 9-10.

"This question will be discussed at the ministerial meeting," said Moussa, head of the 22-member pan-Arab forum.

Moussa, from Egypt, conveyed the request to the 21 other members of the Arab League. Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait have voiced their support to the council's request.

Earlier in the day, the council named a new cabinet, the first since US-led coalition forces toppled former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Arab countries have been cautious about the establishment of the council, which was seen as a step toward ending the US occupation of oil-rich Iraq.

The Interim Governing Council has become the first national executive body in the war-torn Gulf country following Saddam's ouster on April 9.

The 25-member governing body will have the power to appoint ministers, approve the national budget and select members for a committee to draft a new constitution for Iraq. However, the top US civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has the final say.
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2003)