Iraqis agree on govt, leave key posts for later

Baghdad, May 20: Iraqi leaders have agreed on a national unity government to be presented to parliament today, negotiators said, adding that the key interior and defence ministries would be filled later.

''The government will be announced tomorrow,'' a senior aide to Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki told Reuters.

The aide said Maliki, a Shi'ite Islamist, would temporarily fill the post of interior minister for one week and that Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, would take over defence, also for a week.

Parliament is scheduled to meet on Saturday to approve the government, ending months of political deadlock that followed elections in December.

Wrangling between Shi'ite and Sunni Arab political groups over who would control the key portfolios of interior and defence had delayed the make-up of the government, widely seen as the best hope to avoid a slide towards sectarian civil war.

Sunni leaders have accused the Shi'ite-controlled Interior Ministry of running death squads, a charge it denies. Maliki has promised he will appoint an independent with no ties to militias.

Washington hopes the formation of Iraq's first full-term government since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 will foster stability and allow it to begin withdrawing troops.

Sources said Iraq's new oil minister will be nuclear scientist Hussain al-Shahristani.

Reuters