Iraqi lawmakers yesterday urged the country’s new prime minister to quickly assign the critical posts of defense and interior minister, which will spearhead domestic efforts to combat the violent Sunni militant advance.
Addressing lawmakers late on Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi requested an additional week for the selection of the empty Cabinet positions.
However, Sunni lawmaker Hamid al-Mutlaq yesterday voiced concern over the vacant posts, calling on al-Abadi’s government to “prove its credibility and good intentions.”
Photo: Reuters
Salim al-Muslimawi, a Shiite lawmaker from Babil Province, said any further delay in naming a defense and interior minister risks making the government appear weak and divided.
Former Iraqi prime ministers Nouri al-Maliki and Ayad Allawi and former speaker of parliament Osama al-Nujeifi were given the largely ceremonial posts of co-vice president. Kurdish politician and former Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari was named as one of three deputy prime ministers.
Former Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jafaari was named foreign minister.
The US and other countries have been pushing for a more representative government that will ease anger among Sunnis, who felt marginalized by al-Maliki’s administration, helping fuel the dramatic advance by the Islamic State since June. Speaking before parliament, al-Abadi vowed to “back the military operations in all the areas of confrontation against the armed gangs and the forces of terrorism and ensuring their continuation till victory is achieved.”
Meanwhile, in Washington on Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Iraq had cleared a major milestone in the fight against the Islamic State militant group by forming a government that has pledged to ease sectarian tensions in the country.
Kerry told reporters that the new leadership in Baghdad is the cornerstone of an international strategy to defeat and destroy the Sunni insurgency that has overrun parts of northern Iraq and Syria.
Kerry was scheduled to head to the Middle East yesterday, with stops planned in Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
US President Barack Obama is to deliver a speech later today — on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on the US — outlining an offensive against the Islamic State.
US Secretary of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is also expected to visit the Middle East this week to gather support for whatever action Obama announces.
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