Parliament gathers to Ok Iraq's new Gov't
(AP)
Updated: 2006-05-20 15:51 A bomb killed 19 people and wounded 58 in a Shiite
district of Baghdad on Saturday as parliament prepared to inaugurate the
country's first fully constitutional government since the collapse of Saddam
Hussein three years ago.
Police also found the bodies of 19 Iraqis who apparently had been kidnapped
and tortured by death squads that plague the capital and other cities.
Despite the violence, legislators arrived at Baghdad's heavily fortified
Green Zone for a session of the 275-member parliament that was to approve Prime
Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki's new Cabinet.
The United States hopes the new national unity government of Shiites, Sunnis
and Kurds can calm the violence and pave the way for Washington to begin
withdrawing American troops.
"This is a historic day for Iraq and all its people," deputy parliament
speaker Khalid al-Attiyah said at a nationally televised news conference as the
legislators gathered.
"It is the first time that a full-term, democratically elected government has
been formed in Iraq since the fall of the ousted regime. This government
represents all Iraqis," said al-Attiyah, a bearded Shiite cleric wearing a white
turban.
The challenge the new government will face was apparent Friday when al-Maliki
failed to reach agreement with political leaders on who will run the key defense
and interior ministries. He said he would present his Cabinet to parliament
anyway with temporary heads in those posts.
His decision to push ahead with forming a government was yet another sign of
his determination to waste no time addressing Iraq's security — his top
priority.
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