Jafaar government: 33 ministers including 17 Shiite, 8 Kurds, 6 Sunni
Iraq, Politics, 4/27/2005

Following three months of bargaining over the formation of the new Iraqi government, its designated chief Ibrahim al-Jaafari succeeded in formulating a list including the names of its members which he presented on Tuesday to the Iraqi President Jalal al-Talibani.

According to the debated formula, the ministry will include 33 ministers distributed on the Shiite, the Kurds, the Arab Sunni and Christians as well as three deputies for the prime minister. Member of the united coalition Ali al-Adib said that the debated formation does not include any of the members of the Iraqi list led by Eyad Allawi.

The spokesman for al-Jaafari, Abdul Razzaq al-Qadi, said that the prime minister discussed with Talibani on Tuesday the government's formation. He added that al-Jaafari held later a meeting with the leader of the United Iraqi Coalition list for the same purpose.

Should the Presidential Council agreed to this formation, it will be then possible to debate it for voting before the parliament today. The parliamentarians for the united coalition disclosed earlier that Jaafari decided not to include the list of Eyad Allawi in the government and to increase the number of Arab Sunni ministers to five or six ministers.

The national dialogue council, a coalition including 10 Sunni parties, had demanded 16 ministerial seats, but its members said on Monday they will accept a settlement ensuring them several ministries.

Al-Adib said on Tuesday that the conflict between the Sunni sides and groups candidates to join the ministerial formation delayed the nature of the formation of this ministry. He added that the last minute talks to form the government "ended on Tuesday, and very soon the next ministerial formation will be discussed."

On the battlefield, the commander of al-Kout city police Lt. gen. Abdul Hussein al-Amara announced the detention of 305 suspects including 11 of Arab nationalities on Monday in a campaign of arrest in various areas in south Baghdad.

In a statement on Tuesday, the American army said that one American soldier died because of his wounds as a result of a traffic accident to the north east of Baghdad, while a second soldier died because of his wounds in an explosion that targeted his procession in al-Haswa on Saturday.

Previous Stories:
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  American calls to avoid political crisis in Iraq   (4/26/2005)
  Political differences postpone Iraqi government   (4/26/2005)

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