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Iraq parliament set to complete new cabinet
Iraq's parliament convenes on Sunday to formally approve six new government posts, putting a full cabinet in place and ending months of wrangling that hampered efforts to tackle an escalating insurgency. Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari announced on Saturday that a deal had been reached on filling the vacant cabinet posts -- the ministers of defense, oil, human rights, industry and electricity and an additional deputy prime minister. Jaafari declined to name his choices ahead of the parliament meeting, but leading sources in parliament's two most powerful blocs -- the Shi'ite Islamist-led United Iraqi Alliance and the Kurds -- told Reuters the key defense ministry would be given to Saadoun al-Dulaimi, a member of an influential Sunni Arab tribe. The oil minister will be Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, a Shi'ite, the sources said. Several other vacant posts will be given to Sunni Arabs, despite the fact that they have minimal influence in parliament with only 17 of the assembly's 275 seats. The Sunni Arab minority dominated Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule but was sidelined after the Jan. 30 elections, with most Sunni Arabs staying away from the polls due to calls for a boycott and fears of insurgent violence. Iraq's Shi'ite majority and Kurds voted in large numbers, eager to win greater political clout after decades of oppression by Saddam, and became the new dominant players in Iraq. But Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders need to include Sunni Arabs in the political process to undermine support for the insurgency, which is mainly being fought by Sunni guerrillas, and to ensure that Sunni Arabs do not veto the country's new constitution in a referendum later this year. DEADLOCK BROKEN Bickering among leading political blocs over the shape of the new government delayed the formation of a cabinet for months, infuriating many Iraqis who voted in the elections despite threats and suicide bomb attacks on polling stations. A partial cabinet was sworn in last Tuesday but several posts remained vacant, largely because of disagreements over which Sunni Arab candidates should get ministries earmarked for Sunnis. Several candidates for defense minister were rejected by Shi'ites because of past ties to Saddam. Political leaders hope that giving the defense ministry to a Sunni Arab with tribal ties to rebellious western Iraq will help them crack down on insurgents and win over Sunni Arabs. Guerrillas have unleashed a surge in violence over the past 10 days, killing more than 300 people in a series of attacks that defied government predictions the insurgency was crumbling. Gunmen assassinated senior transport ministry official Zobaa Yassin as he drove to work on Sunday, police said. On Saturday, al Qaeda's network in Iraq hit a foreign security convoy with a car bomb in the heart of Baghdad, killing at least 22 people including two Americans. Dozens were wounded, including several pupils at a nearby girls' school. The previous day, a suicide car bomb at a vegetable market in Suwayra, south of Baghdad, killed 31 people, and another suicide bomber blew up his vehicle beside a police minibus in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, killing at least nine policemen. Insurgents are also pressing foreign troops to leave by seizing foreign hostages. On Friday, Al Jazeera aired a new video showing Australian captive Douglas Wood, 63, apparently pleading for his life as two guerrillas pointed rifles at him. Wood appeared distraught and his head had been shaved. Al Jazeera said his captors demanded that Australia begin withdrawing its troops from Iraq within 72 hours. Australia insists it will not give in to hostage takers. |
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