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.
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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.