Iraq set for unity government
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-05-20 08:53
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament should confirm a new government in
office on Saturday, ending months of inertia that have seen sectarian bloodshed
mount and launching a crucial new phase in the U.S.-backed project to install
democracy.
An Iraqi member of
Parliament asks for permission to speak, in Baghdad, May 10, 2006. Iraqi
leaders have agreed on a national unity government to be presented to
parliament on Saturday, negotiators said on Friday, adding that the key
interior and defense ministries would be filled later.
[Reuters] |
Aides to Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and senior negotiators
said a basic deal was struck in talks late on Friday that left the key posts of
interior and defense minister vacant.
There may be some fine-tuning at the last minute but, with jobs for nearly
all parliamentary groups barring small Shi'ite and Sunni parties that refused to
join, parliamentary approval for Maliki's ministers is likely to be a formality.
The government can be sure of an enthusiastic welcome in Washington, where
frustration with Iraqis' sectarian and ethnic haggling has grown over the five
months since an election hailed as a final step from
Saddam Hussein's
dictatorship to democracy.
"For the first time, Sunnis, Kurds and Shias participate with a four-year
mandate," a senior U.S. official said in Washington. "This is an opportunity to
make some changes."
For President George W. Bush, who launched the invasion in 2003 in the name
of Iraqi freedom and ending a perceived threat from Saddam, stability is key to
bringing home 130,000 American troops -- a move that might stem his falling
approval ratings.
Iraqis too, who turned out in large numbers across all the rival communities,
have been growing impatient for a leadership that can address their massive
problems -- security certainly, but also a devastated economy and poor basic
public services.
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