অ্যাকসেসিবিলিটি লিংক

Iraqi Cabinet Sworn In; Defense, Oil Ministries Unfilled


After months of political haggling, Iraq's new government has been sworn in, but five ministries -- including the key defense and oil portfolios -- remain unfilled with only caretaker appointments.

Interim Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said the delay in filling the remaining posts -- which have been designated for Sunni Arabs -- was because of differences within their faction. He predicted this would be resolved in a few days.

Twenty-nine ministers from Iraq's main religious and ethnic groups were sworn in today (Tuesday). They will write a permanent constitution and will guide the country to elections in December.

Meanwhile, in Mosul, a car bomb blast killed an Iraqi civilian. In Samarra, gunmen shot dead three policemen. And near Ramadi, 15 people, a dozen of them insurgents, were killed in a battle with Iraqi and coalition forces.

The U.S. military also reports that it has recovered the body of a pilot from one of two missing Marine jets that apparently crashed on Monday. Efforts to find a second missing pilot and the two planes continue.

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