Sunni set to win defence post in Iraq

Tuesday, Apr 26, 2005

Senior members of the Shia coalition with a majority in Iraq's parliament said yesterday they had agreed tohave a Sunni Arab in the key post of defence minister.

The decision follows weeks of political negotiations in which various Kurdish, Shia and Sunni parties that competed in elections in January have fought for representation in the new - and much delayed - government.

Giving the defence post to a Sunni Arab is thought to satisfy one of their central demands. Sunni dominated the military and the ruling Ba'ath party under the regime of Saddam Hussein and now make up the bulk of Iraq's insurgents. It may be a step towards a long-sought political solution to the two-year guerrilla war.

Saad Jawad, a member of Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), said Sunni Arabs would get three other seats in the cabinet, expected to be announced shortly. The Shia coalition to which his party belongs, the United Iraqi Alliance, would get 17 positions, including the crucial interior, oil and finance ministries.

Ali al-Dabbagh, a member of the Daawa party, which is in the Shia bloc, also told the al-Arabiya satellite TV channel that a Sunni would fill the defence post.

However, in a sign that the negotiations could be far from over, Mishaan al-Jaburi, a Sunni Arab legislator, said that while an agreement had been reached on the defence portfolio, there was still dispute over the number of cabinet posts allocated to Sunni Arabs.

He said they wanted at least six cabinet seats, as well as a deputy prime minister post.

An official in the Kurdish coalition, the second-largest bloc in parliament, said talks were continuing, and that the Kurdish and Shia groups could give up one post each to increase the Sunni Arab seats. Mr Jawad said the Kurdish coalition would have nine posts, including the foreign minister.

Negotiations on the make-up of the new government have been deadlocked for weeks as the parties wrangled over which group would take which post, including the sensitive issue of how Sunni Arabs would be included in the cabinet.

Failure of the parties to agree on the new government has led to concern over a political vacuum that is being exploited by insurgents, who have increased attacks in recent weeks. Dozens of people have been killed and injured in a wave of attacks this month.

Allocation of the security posts has been one of the main stumbling blocks, with Sunni Arabs desperate to stake a claim to either defence or the interior ministry. The security issue has become more controversial as some Shia politicians have called for former members of the Ba'ath party to be purged from the police and military.

Jawad al-Maliki, a member of the Daawa party of Ibrahim al-Jaafari, prime minister, said the cabinet would be announced today.

By AWADH AL-TAEE and ANDREW ENGLAND