The sun pierced a cloudy sky as Afghan President Hamid Karzai swore in his cabinet on Monday, completing what he called a difficult job -- and one that had threatened to unravel as candidates jockeyed for position.

About half of the 29 ministers belong to the Northern Alliance, which swept the Taliban from power last year, with Karzai sticking to the formula of the interim government set up by the U.N.-sponsored Bonn accord in December.

Cabinet formation, a task that began at the traditional grand assembly last week, has been seen as crucial to reconciling the traditionally warring tribes of Afghanistan and leading the country out of 23 years of war.

The ceremony, on a lawn under two huge plane trees surrounded by rose bushes, was attended by ministers' families and officials of former king Zahir Shah.

Also present were representatives of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the multinational peacekeeping force for the capital, Kabul, which has won overwhelming praise from Karzai since it began operations six months ago.

"We promise to fight against bureaucratic corruption and safeguard our independence and national sovereignty and we pledge to be honest and faithful in the country's national interest," Karzai told the ministers as part of the oath.

The ceremony lasted a few minutes, after which the ministers joined Karzai for tea.

"It was a difficult job," Karzai told one of his team after the ceremony, in a reference to the appointments process.

Most of the ministers, who will earn an average of 100 Dollars a month, wore western dress and sat on chairs around a table placed on Afghan carpets. Karzai arrived later, wearing a gray lamb-skin hat and black coat, and took a seat at the top of the table.

The ceremony began with the playing of the national anthem just as sunlight broke through the clouds.

Former interior minister Yunis Qanuni decided only hours before the ceremony in the garden of the presidential palace to accept the dual roles of education minister and presidential adviser on security affairs, an aide said.

Qanuni had been visibly angered when Karzai offered him the education portfolio in front of Loya Jirga delegates, apparently as an afterthought.

"I hope that through education I can help the children of Afghanistan," Qanuni told reporters in the garden. "I am happy once again to be in the service of the people."

Asked about his plans to start a political party, he said it was a "necessity" which was not inconsistent with his job as a minister.

WOMEN'S POST ANNOUNCED

The women's post went at the last minute to Loya Jirga delegate and Kabul University Professor Mahbubah Hoqooqmal, but she was abroad and did not know of the appointment, Karzai said.

The only woman minister present was Suhaila Seddiqi, who has charge of public health.

The most worrying challenge to the cabinet make-up came from Qanuni who, together with Defense Minister Fahim, led a triumphant march on Kabul last year to oust the Taliban.

The fear is that without a stable government in Kabul, warlords and other factional leaders in the provinces will continue to create their own little fiefdoms where the rule of law is decided by the gun.

Qanuni, a Tajik like the bulk of the key former interim ministers of the Northern Alliance, and installed as interior minister after the fall of the Taliban, resigned ostensibly to appease the Pashtuns of the south who felt under-represented.

But his supporters were not happy. Nor was Qanuni when Karzai made him education minister.

Since then, Qanuni's supporters have demonstrated outside the ministry and once postponed the arrival of the new minister, Taj Mohammad Wardak, when he came to introduce himself to his staff.

Two portfolios, civil aviation and tourism and public works, have been taken from the camp of the former king and given to supporters of the Northern Alliance.

The former king Mohammad Zahir Shah gave up any bid for power at the Loya Jirga.

But some of his supporters still hold cabinet posts, including advisers to Karzai in foreign security relations.

Karzai has four deputies who belong to the main ethnic tribes. One post was given to the faction of Uzbek warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum, along with three cabinet posts.

"I am utterly happy with the structure of the cabinet," Dostum told Reuters.

PHOTO CAPTION

New Afghan President Hamid Karzai gives directions to his guests at the Presidential Palace in Kabul before inaugurating the Afghan cabinet on June 24, 2002. The ceremony completes a process begun at last week's grand assembly and is seen as crucial to reconciling the country's traditionally warring tribes and leading it out of 23 years of war. (Beawiharta/Reuters)