Iraq reaches landmark as government formed

BAGHDAD - Iraq has formed its first democratically elected government in more than 50 years, ending three months of political deadlock that has crippled efforts to end violence.

The 275-seat parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of the cabinet proposed by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, ending a power vacuum that has existed since January 30 elections.

In a stroke of irony, the government's formation came on the 68th birthday of former dictator Saddam Hussein.

Delays in forming the cabinet, caused by disagreement over the allocation of ministries, have undermined Iraqis' faith in their leaders. The drawn-out talks over the cabinet erased much of the optimism created by the elections and may have spurred on the insurgency.

The cabinet will consist of 31 ministers and four deputy prime ministers, an effort to accommodate almost all Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups amid growing tension.

Most of the posts went to Shi'ite Muslims, the majority in the country and the new political power after decades of Sunni-led rule under Saddam. Kurds and Sunni Arabs were also strongly represented. Seven ministries went to women.

However, Jaafari failed to name permanent ministers to five ministries -- oil, defence, electricity, industry and human rights -- underlining just how divided the new leaders are over the shape of the government.

The acting oil minister will be Ahmad Chalabi, a Shi'ite once close to the Pentagon, and the acting defence minister will be Jaafari. The interior ministry, considered essential to security, went to Bayan Jabbor, a Shi'ite.

Concerns have been raised in recent weeks that a Shi'ite interior minister could decide to purge many Sunnis, currently central to the fight against insurgents, from their positions.

While the distribution appeared to be very much along ethnic and sectarian lines, Jaafari, an Islamist Shi'ite, was at pains to insist the spread reflected a government of 'national unity'.

No members of Iyad Allawi's party were included after talks with the former prime minister broke down this week after he was said to have demanded too many cabinet posts.

Allawi's party came third in the elections, winning 40 seats in parliament, and will now form the rump of an opposition.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

The formation of a government represents a landmark after months of political impasse but the hardest work remains to be done, with violence on the increase throughout the country.

Suicide car bombings, assassinations and other attacks have surged in recent weeks, with the inability to form a government spurring on insurgents, US and Iraqi officials have said.

On Wednesday, a female parliamentarian who is a member of Allawi's political party was shot dead at her home in eastern Baghdad, the first lawmaker to be assassinated.

Ahead of the National Assembly's vote on Thursday there was a string of attacks that killed at least eight people, including two interior ministry officials, and wounded more than 30.

Major-General Mohsen Abed al-Sadah, who worked in the interior ministry's intelligence department, was shot dead outside his home in southwest Baghdad, ministry sources said.

Another ministry employee, Lieutenant Colonel Alaa Khalil Ibrahim, was shot dead as he drove to work, the sources said.

North of Baghdad, in Saddam's former hometown of Tikrit, a suicide car bomber targeted police headquarters, killing two Iraqi National Guards and wounding 14, a hospital spokesman said.

The US military said three American soldiers were among those wounded.

South of Tikrit, a bomb placed on a motorcycle killed two police officers and wounded five near the town of Samarra.

The fate of three Romanian journalists and their driver also remained unknown. Kidnapped a month ago, they have been threatened with death unless Romania withdraws its 800 troops from Iraq. The deadline hanging over them has already been extended once.

As well as having to tackle guerrilla violence and rampant organised crime, the new government, working with parliament, will oversee the writing of a permanent constitution. Iraq will hold fresh elections under the charter in December.

No progress has been made on the constitution, despite parliament's meeting on and off for more than a month. The document has to be drawn up by mid-August and then put to a referendum before elections are held.

If it does not look like it is going to be drafted on time, legislators can ask for a six-month extension before August 1, a prospect that looks increasingly likely.

- REUTERS