OMEN
05-16-2006, 12:00 AM
Baghdad - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani insisted on Monday that he would not accept the formation of an "incomplete" cabinet, with the key interior and defence posts still undecided five months to the day since the Gulf state's landmark elections.
Attacks across the country killed at least 29 Iraqis, including school teachers and six members of a single family, while the US military announced the deaths of six servicemen on Sunday, two of them killed when their helicopter was shot down south of the capital.
Eight policemen were killed by Shi'a tribesmen near the main southern city of Basra after their leader was slain by attackers reportedly wearing police uniforms, adding to the tensions in British-controlled southern Iraq.The US military also said it killed more than 40 suspected insurgents in weekend raids south of Baghdad, including an alleged local al-Qaeda leader accused of shooting down a US combat helicopter last month.
A prominent Sunni Arab group called the attacks a "cruel violation" of human rights, alleging that troops targeted civilians.
Violence has raged across Iraq as political leaders continue to bicker over key ministerial posts in the first full-term government of the post-Saddam Hussein era.
Talabani rejected calls for the defence and interior posts to be left temporarily vacant to end the long-running political deadlock, as Shi'as, Sunnis and Kurds jostle for power.
"The presidency does not wish to see the presentation of an incomplete government lacking the defence and interior posts," he told reporters.
Prime minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'a, has until May 21 to announce his cabinet.
"There is an agreement that these two ministries should go to independents on which all party lists agree," Talabani said. "God willing, the new national unity government will be announced before the end of the week."
On Sunday, Bahaa al-Aaraji, an MP close to Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr, said Maliki would keep the interior and defence portfolios in his own hands on a temporary basis.
In an important concession, Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said the Shi'as could have the interior portfolio while defence should go to a Sunni member of the secular party of Shi'a former prime minister Iyad Allawi.
"The interior ministry should go to a Shiite but he should be approved by all the other lists," Hashemi said. "The defence ministry should go to Allawi's list and should be approved by everybody."
Among those killed in attacks on Monday were six people from the same family, including four women, gunned down in their home in the northern city of Mosul, security sources said.
Four schoolteachers were slain near Balad Ruz, east of Baghdad, when gunmen opened fire on their minibus and two civilians were killed when a makeshift bomb exploded in the path of their car on the road between Baiji and Tikrit.
Basra has seen a rise in violence and tensions as ties between British troops in the region and local authorities have deteriorated. On Monday, four British soldiers suffered minor injuries when a mortar bomb hit their base in Amara.
In three separate incidents in Baghdad, a departmental director of the housing and construction ministry was killed, a policeman died and gunmen killed a shop owner.
Another five Iraqis were killed in other attacks in various parts of the country, while 18 bodies were found in and around Baghdad.
The US death toll also mounted on Sunday, with six servicemen killed.
Two were killed when their helicopter was shot down during fighting over Yusifiyah, in the so-called Triangle of Death south-west of Baghdad.
An insurgent umbrella group claimed the attack. "Your brethren in the military wing of the Mujahedeen's Consultative Council downed four crusader aircraft in Yusifiyah," it said in a message posted on an Internet site.
Two US marines were also killed in the restive western province of Al-Anbar, and two US soldiers were killed by a bomb in Baghdad.
The US military hit back in the Triangle of Death with two separate raids on the town of Latifiyah in which it said a total of 41 insurgents were killed, including a suspected al-Qaeda commander blamed for an April attack on a US helicopter in which two servicemen died.
There were also reports of heavy clashes in Ramadi, capital of the restive province of Al-Anbar, with attacks on the governor's offices which are defended by US Marines. -
SAPA
Attacks across the country killed at least 29 Iraqis, including school teachers and six members of a single family, while the US military announced the deaths of six servicemen on Sunday, two of them killed when their helicopter was shot down south of the capital.
Eight policemen were killed by Shi'a tribesmen near the main southern city of Basra after their leader was slain by attackers reportedly wearing police uniforms, adding to the tensions in British-controlled southern Iraq.The US military also said it killed more than 40 suspected insurgents in weekend raids south of Baghdad, including an alleged local al-Qaeda leader accused of shooting down a US combat helicopter last month.
A prominent Sunni Arab group called the attacks a "cruel violation" of human rights, alleging that troops targeted civilians.
Violence has raged across Iraq as political leaders continue to bicker over key ministerial posts in the first full-term government of the post-Saddam Hussein era.
Talabani rejected calls for the defence and interior posts to be left temporarily vacant to end the long-running political deadlock, as Shi'as, Sunnis and Kurds jostle for power.
"The presidency does not wish to see the presentation of an incomplete government lacking the defence and interior posts," he told reporters.
Prime minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'a, has until May 21 to announce his cabinet.
"There is an agreement that these two ministries should go to independents on which all party lists agree," Talabani said. "God willing, the new national unity government will be announced before the end of the week."
On Sunday, Bahaa al-Aaraji, an MP close to Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr, said Maliki would keep the interior and defence portfolios in his own hands on a temporary basis.
In an important concession, Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi said the Shi'as could have the interior portfolio while defence should go to a Sunni member of the secular party of Shi'a former prime minister Iyad Allawi.
"The interior ministry should go to a Shiite but he should be approved by all the other lists," Hashemi said. "The defence ministry should go to Allawi's list and should be approved by everybody."
Among those killed in attacks on Monday were six people from the same family, including four women, gunned down in their home in the northern city of Mosul, security sources said.
Four schoolteachers were slain near Balad Ruz, east of Baghdad, when gunmen opened fire on their minibus and two civilians were killed when a makeshift bomb exploded in the path of their car on the road between Baiji and Tikrit.
Basra has seen a rise in violence and tensions as ties between British troops in the region and local authorities have deteriorated. On Monday, four British soldiers suffered minor injuries when a mortar bomb hit their base in Amara.
In three separate incidents in Baghdad, a departmental director of the housing and construction ministry was killed, a policeman died and gunmen killed a shop owner.
Another five Iraqis were killed in other attacks in various parts of the country, while 18 bodies were found in and around Baghdad.
The US death toll also mounted on Sunday, with six servicemen killed.
Two were killed when their helicopter was shot down during fighting over Yusifiyah, in the so-called Triangle of Death south-west of Baghdad.
An insurgent umbrella group claimed the attack. "Your brethren in the military wing of the Mujahedeen's Consultative Council downed four crusader aircraft in Yusifiyah," it said in a message posted on an Internet site.
Two US marines were also killed in the restive western province of Al-Anbar, and two US soldiers were killed by a bomb in Baghdad.
The US military hit back in the Triangle of Death with two separate raids on the town of Latifiyah in which it said a total of 41 insurgents were killed, including a suspected al-Qaeda commander blamed for an April attack on a US helicopter in which two servicemen died.
There were also reports of heavy clashes in Ramadi, capital of the restive province of Al-Anbar, with attacks on the governor's offices which are defended by US Marines. -
SAPA