May 28 (Bloomberg) -- The Iraqi Governing Council today unanimously endorsed one of its members, Iyad Allawi, to become Iraq's new prime minister, council spokesman Hamid al-Kifai said.

The U.S.-led coalition plans to hand power to an Iraqi-led administration on June 30. The appointment of Allawi, a Shiite Muslim, as prime minister of the majority-Shiite country would see him head an interim government until elections that are expected to be held by the end of January.

Allawi's candidacy was approved at the IGC building in Baghdad, al-Kifai said, speaking by cellular phone from the capital. Lakhdar Brahimi, the United Nation's top envoy to Iraq, has been in Iraq looking for candidates for the posts of prime minister, president, two vice presidents and 26 heads of ministries.

Allawi ``has the approval of Brahimi, the Coalition Provisional Authority and the Governing Council,'' al-Kifai said.

While U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called the council vote a tribute to Allawi's support, he said it was Brahimi's opinion that mattered. Brahimi's spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, said the envoy ``welcomes and respects'' the choice of Allawi, while not specifying whether Brahimi backed the nomination, according to the Associated Press.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard has said the leaders of the interim government would be chosen by UN, U.S. and Iraqi officials. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric in New York said he couldn't confirm reports that Brahimi has endorsed Allawi. Fawzi couldn't be reached on his cell phone.

Assassination Attempt

Allawi, a neurologist in his 60s, heads the Iraqi National Accord party. He was a high-ranking official in ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath party before defecting in the 1970s. Hussein's regime tried to assassinate Allawi in the 1970s, al- Kifai said.

Starting in the early 1990s, the INA received U.S. money and backing, based on the premise that a coup was the best way to topple Hussein, according to former U.S. administration officials. An INA coup in 1996 was foiled and its perpetrators crushed by Hussein.

Brahimi on Wednesday released a statement saying that nuclear physicist Hussain Shahristani wasn't a candidate for the post of prime minister, a day after the Washington Post said the U.S. and UN were close to choosing the 62-year-old scientist as the leader.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 28, 2004 11:41 EDT