After Delay,Iraq lawmakers approve two key ministers


 Written by : Mohamed Abdel Fattah

Oct 18, 2014

Iraqi parliamentarians named two relatively unknown politicians to head its most sensitive security posts in Prime Minister Haidar al-Abbadi's government, on Saturday.

Mohammed Salem al-Ghabban, a Shia, was appointed interior minister, while Khaled al-Obeidi, a Sunni, was confirmed as defence minister.

Al-Ghabban, a lawmaker with al-Abadi’s State of Law political bloc, was approved as minister of interior by a 197-63 vote. He holds degrees from universities in both Tehran and London and he is currently pursuing a PhD in political science in Baghdad. He was a long-time opponent of Saddam and was detained in 1979.

Al-Obeidi, a lawmaker from Mosul, was selected for the post of defense minister, by a vote of 175-85. He had served as an officer in Saddam Hussein’s military and holds a PhD in political science.

The ministries — interior and defense — are particularly important because each controls an array of security forces fighting the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL.

It's taken more than a month for these two key posts to be agreed. In a country where more than 1,000 people were dying in violence every month even before the rise of IS militants.

US, UK and other aircraft have for weeks bombed Isis targets in Iraq and have been pushing the Baghdad government to form an inclusive, efficient government that can rebuild the country’s security forces and reverse Isis’s gains.

Washington has repeatedly called on Baghdad to reach out to the Sunni and Kurdish minorities, saying only a unified Iraqi government can defeat the extremists.

The US commander overseeing the air war on the armed group said Iraq remained the coalition's priority, as similar operations pound ISIL's strongholds in Syria.

"Iraq is our main effort and it has to be, and the things that we're doing right now in Syria are being done primarily to shape the conditions in Iraq," General Lloyd Austin said.

Sources

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/10/iraq-mps-approve-two-key-ministers-20141018121152175938.html

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29674440
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/world/middleeast/after-delay-iraq-appoints-two-to-posts-for-security.html

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