Iraq parliament backs defence, interior ministers

BAGHDAD – The Iraqi parliament yesterday approved Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s candidates for defence and interior ministers, ending wrangling that had threatened to plunge the new government into crisis.

By a clear majority, it approved Jawad al-Bolani, a Shi’ite, as interior minister and General Abdel Qader Jassim, a Sunni and until now Iraqi ground forces commander, as defence minister. Of 198 deputies present in the 275-seat assembly, 182 voted for Bolani while 142 supported Jassim, the speaker said.The vote took place shortly after Maliki – who has pledged to crush a Sunni Arab insurgency against the US-backed, Shi’ite-led government – announced that al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been killed.Both developments marked a major boost for Maliki, who the United States hopes can quell guerrilla and sectarian violence plaguing Iraq and prevent wider communal conflict.The two key security jobs were left temporarily vacant when Maliki’s self-styled government of national unity took office on May 20 because of disputes among his coalition partners.Presenting himself to parliament, Jassim said he was demoted in Saddam Hussein’s army because he opposed the 1990 invasion of neighbouring Kuwait.He said he was retired in 1992 and detained two years later to face a military court, which ordered the confiscation of his house and other assets.He joined the new Iraqi army formed after US forces toppled Saddam in 2003.”I never belonged to any of the present political groups,” Jassim told the assembly.”I do not carry any sectarian title.I’m here for all Iraqis, not for one sect.”Bolani, born in 1960, told deputies he worked as an air force engineer but quit the armed forces in 1999.In 2004, he was a deputy member of Iraq’s interim Governing Council set up after the US-led invasion.He was also a member of parliament in 2005.The interior ministry came under intense scrutiny under the previous minister, who Sunni leaders accused of sanctioning death squads, a charge he denied.Maliki has said he wanted to choose non-sectarian ministers to run his grand coalition of Shi’ites, Kurds and Sunnis, the minority sect once dominant under Saddam.- Nampa-ReutersOf 198 deputies present in the 275-seat assembly, 182 voted for Bolani while 142 supported Jassim, the speaker said.The vote took place shortly after Maliki – who has pledged to crush a Sunni Arab insurgency against the US-backed, Shi’ite-led government – announced that al Qaeda’s leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been killed.Both developments marked a major boost for Maliki, who the United States hopes can quell guerrilla and sectarian violence plaguing Iraq and prevent wider communal conflict.The two key security jobs were left temporarily vacant when Maliki’s self-styled government of national unity took office on May 20 because of disputes among his coalition partners.Presenting himself to parliament, Jassim said he was demoted in Saddam Hussein’s army because he opposed the 1990 invasion of neighbouring Kuwait.He said he was retired in 1992 and detained two years later to face a military court, which ordered the confiscation of his house and other assets.He joined the new Iraqi army formed after US forces toppled Saddam in 2003.”I never belonged to any of the present political groups,” Jassim told the assembly.”I do not carry any sectarian title.I’m here for all Iraqis, not for one sect.”Bolani, born in 1960, told deputies he worked as an air force engineer but quit the armed forces in 1999.In 2004, he was a deputy member of Iraq’s interim Governing Council set up after the US-led invasion.He was also a member of parliament in 2005.The interior ministry came under intense scrutiny under the previous minister, who Sunni leaders accused of sanctioning death squads, a charge he denied.Maliki has said he wanted to choose non-sectarian ministers to run his grand coalition of Shi’ites, Kurds and Sunnis, the minority sect once dominant under Saddam.- Nampa-Reuters