"I swear by almighty Allah to do my utmost to serve and protect Iraq, its people, land and sovereignty, and Allah is my witness," said each minister in turn, placing a hand on a copy of the Koran, the Muslim holy book.

The sole woman, Public Works Minister Nisrin Mustafa al-Barwari, led the way in taking her oath of office.

The new cabinet, unveiled Monday, is divided up among the country's various communities, with 13 ministries going to Shiite Muslims, five to Sunni Muslims, five to Kurds, one to the Turkmens and one to the Christians.

The Christian cabinet member held a copy of the Bible as he was sworn in.

Eight members of the cabinet were unable to attend the ceremony for "technical reasons" and were due to be sworn in later. Two ministers were introduced as having only just returned to Iraq from abroad in time for the swearing-in.

Paul Bremer, the US civilian administrator for Iraq, attended the event in Baghdad's international convention centre, now used as one of the US-led coalition's main administrative buildings.

But amid US concern that the event should be seen as an exclusively Iraqi one, he made no intervention, limiting his role to hosting a reception for the new ministers afterwards.

The new cabinet will report to the Governing Council, an interim leadership appointed by the US-led coalition in July.

The holder of the council's rotating chairmanship -- currently Ahmed Chalabi, head of the Pentagon-backed Iraqi National Congress -- will chair meetings of the cabinet, which has no prime minister.

Each ministry will also continue to be supervised by a coalition advisor.

Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, who served as one of the official witnesses at the swearing-in, rejected suggestions that the cabinet would remain powerless as long as the coalition advisors stayed in place.