''Come back to our people with atonement and apology so you can take part in the process of rebuilding and development,'' the soft-spoken al-Jaafari said. ''Our heart is big, and can encompass you all, unless you shed blood or violated the integrity of others.''

His remarks were addressed to the predominantly Sunni Arab insurgency, whose ranks are believed to include many members of the now-dissolved military and security forces of toppled leader Saddam Hussein. ''The dialogue of words will take you,'' he added, ''to what the language of bullets and the ethics of perfidy failed to do.''

Al-Jaafari made his remarks in a short address to members of Iraq's newly elected parliament who witnessed the oath-taking in an auditorium in the Convention Center of the U.S.-protected Green Zone. The ceremony, however, was marred by absences.

Seven cabinet positions were not filled in time for the ceremony, three of them because Jafari's Shiite political coalition and representatives of the Sunni Arab community were unable to reach agreement on a candidate for the key post of defense minister.

Iraq's Vice President Ghazi Yawar, who has been negotiating on behalf of the Sunni Arabs with al-Jaafari, also stayed away from the oath-taking. A spokesman for Yawar had said Monday that no Sunni Arab would attend the ceremony if al-Jaafari did not select a defense minister from among the names they had proferred. However, three Sunni Arabs named to the cabinet - ministers of culture, women's affairs and provincial affairs - did attend the ceremony.

Four other cabinet posts remain vacant: two deputy premierships, and the ministries of oil and electricity. Al-Jaafari indicated later at a news conference that he intends to fill these posts soon.

As for the three vacant cabinet positions to be held by Sunni Arabs, which also include human rights and industry, al-Jaafari said blamed this on ''some disagreement . . . among the brothers [the Sunni Arabs]. Now the brothers are the ones who are going to decide . . . and that work will be done within the coming couple of days,'' he added.

The other absence at the ceremony was the former interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi. He is traveling abroad.

Allawi, who first put himself forward as a nominee for prime minister in opposition to al-Jaafari, later expressed interest in joining the new government under al-Jaafari's leadership. But negotiations between the two sides were unable to reach a compromise.

In his speech, al-Jaafari also apologized to neighboring Iran and Kuwait for the wars both had suffered when Saddam ruled Iraq. ''What Kuwait had to endure reflects what our people had to live with at the hands of the same criminal,'' he said. And ''the aggression to which Iran was exposed was but a manifestation of a deep grudge, which is not a trait of our good people and their noble intentions.''