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New Iraqi Government In Place

Iraq's first democratically elected government was sworn in Tuesday after last-minute bargaining by the new prime minister failed to bring the disaffected Sunni minority into key Cabinet posts.

One by one, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and members of his Cabinet walked to a podium in the convention center in Baghdad and pledged to defend Iraq and its people amid a surge of violence by insurgents that has killed nearly 170 people in six days.

"You all know the heavy legacy inherited by this government. We are afflicted by corruption, lack of services, unemployment and mass graves," al-Jaafari told lawmakers after taking the oath of office. "I would like to tell the widows and orphans ... your sacrifices have not gone in vain."

But five ministries — including the key defense and oil portfolios — remained in temporary hands and two deputy prime minister's slots were unfilled as al-Jaafari struggled to balance the demands of Iraq's competing ethnic and religious factions.

Al-Jaafari particularly wanted the defense minister's job filled by a Sunni Arab as a way to draw the formerly dominant minority into the fight against an insurgency that is thought to be based primarily among Sunnis.

He will act as defense minister until consensus can be reached on a new one. Former Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi, a Shiite Arab and one of four deputy prime ministers, was given temporary responsibility for the key oil ministry.

In Other Developments:

  • Investigators concluded that two missing U.S. Marine fighter jets likely collided over southern Iraq, a senior U.S. defense official said Tuesday at the Pentagon. U.S. officials in Baghdad said the body of one pilot was found and that the search for the planes was continuing.
  • U.S.-led forces have recovered a letter they believe was addressed to Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi complaining about low morale among his followers and the incompetence of leaders in his terror network, the military said Tuesday. The authenticity of the letter could not be independently verified. The letter was seized during an April 28 raid in Baghdad, which also yielded an undated document listing targeting information and sketch maps for kidnappings and bombings, the military said in a statement.
  • Insurgents attacked a checkpoint in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, and 12 militants, an Iraqi soldier and two Iraqi civilians died in the fighting, the U.S. military said. Two Marines were slightly injured, the military said, adding the fighting also wounded four insurgents and two Iraqi soldiers. Five militants were captured, the statement said.
  • In Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, unidentified gunmen killed three Iraqi policemen in three separate attacks, police 1st Lt. Qassim Mohammed said.
  • Three roadside bombs targeted police patrols in western Baghdad, injuring four officers, police Maj. Musa Abdul Karim said.
  • Near the Syrian border on Monday, coalition forces tracked down and confronted suspected members of al Qaeda in Iraq, the U.S. military said. The fighting, which included a U.S. airstrike, killed 12 militants and injured a 6-year-old girl, the military said. Six coalition soldiers also were wounded, it said, without specifying their nationalities.

    Al-Jaafari had promised to form a government that would win over the Sunnis, but members of his Shiite-dominated alliance rejected candidates with ties to Saddam's brutal regime.

    After months of wrangling following the historic election of the National Assembly on Jan. 30, al-Jaafari negotiated a 37-member Cabinet that so far includes 15 Shiite Arab ministers, seven Kurds, four Sunnis and one Christian. Two of the four deputy prime ministers were also sworn in Tuesday, a Shiite and a Kurd.

    President Jalal Talabani wished the new Cabinet well in its historic task: "To achieve a unified democratic Iraq."

    Underscoring lingering divisions, however, many lawmakers stayed away from the ceremony, which took place in a half-empty hall inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. They included Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni leader and one of two vice presidents, who earlier complained not enough Sunnis were included in the new government.

    Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite whose caretaker government took charge of the country while al-Jaafari struggled to form his Cabinet, was also absent. His office said he was out of the country, but declined to specify where.

    The new government will hold it's first meeting within days, al-Jaafari said.

    The attacks are blamed on an insurgency believed largely made up of members of Iraq's Sunni minority, who dominated for decades under Saddam Hussein but were excluded from meaningful positions in the partial Cabinet that took office.

    An aide to al-Jaafari, Laith Kuba, said earlier the prime minister had picked people to fill six of the seven vacant Cabinet positions. He said the names were discussed with Talabani and his two vice presidents, who must sign off on them before they are submitted to parliament for a vote.

    On Sunday, Kurdish factions agreed to give up one of their ministries to meet the Sunnis' demands, said Azad Junduiani, spokesman for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of two main Kurdish parties.

    But an official from the same party, Fouad Massoum, disputed that. He said Kurdish leaders would not accept a Sunni Arab in the human rights ministry, which is being temporarily lead by a Kurd.

    Salih al-Mutlag, head of the National Dialogue Council, a coalition of 10 Sunni factions, identified the Sunni deputy prime minister as Abid Mutlag al-Jubouri, a former major general in Saddam's army. He said three candidates were being discussed for defense minister: Hamid Obeid and Ahmed al-Rikan, both former generals under Saddam, and Mohammed Hassan Dalwa.

    On Jan. 30, millions of Iraqis risked their lives to elect the Shiite-dominated assembly, but many Sunnis boycotted the vote or stayed home for fear of attacks at the polls.

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