BAGHDAD, July 13 (Xinhua) -- A United States-backed Iraqi governing council held its inaugural meeting on Sunday in a landmark step on the country's path to democracy and reconstruction.

　　The Governing Council of Iraq is the first national executive body in the war-shattered c ountry since U.S.-led coalition forces ousted former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein more than three months ago.

　　The council is composed of 13 Shiites, five Sunnis, five Kurds, one Christian and one Turkman, roughly reflecting Iraq's religious and ethnic make-up.

　　About 60 percent of Iraq's 24 million people are Shiite Muslims, but the country has been ruled by Sunnis for decades.

　　Among the council members are Ahmed Chalabi, chief of the Iraqi National Congress, and Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, a leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution, and Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani, leaders of the two main Kurdish groups.

　　The 25-member governing body will have the power to appoint ministers, approve the national budget and select members of a committee to draft a new constitution. But top U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, still has a final say.

　　"The launch of the governing council will mean that Iraqis play a more central role in running their country," Bremer said in a statement to Iraqis on Saturday. End