Iraqi lawmakers OK Cabinet for new government
Five ministry posts filled temporarily
 |  Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari talks to reporters after Thursday's Cabinet approval. |
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- In a milestone move, Iraq's National Assembly chose a new government Thursday following three months of political wrangling in the wake of historic elections.
But Iraq's transitional assembly isn't finished yet, approving only a partial list of Cabinet members.
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite Arab, assumed his post with the creation of the government. Two deputy prime minister positions remain vacant.
Five ministries -- including defense, oil and electricity -- were filled with temporary appointments due to a last-minute failure to reach a compromise.
Permanent choices are expected to be made in a matter of days.
The approval of the Cabinet represents the end of a major political impasse.
There were 185 assembly members present at the time of the vote. Around 180 approved the new government by a show of hands. The rest didn't indicate their approval.
The government's ethnic shape reflects the strong Shiite Arab and Kurdish showings in the January 30 election, with many of the positions allocated to officials from those groups.
Shiites received the largest number of picks, and Kurds the second-largest.
Powerful under Saddam Hussein's rule, Sunni Arabs largely stayed away from the polls in January, and their low turnout is reflected in the small number of Sunnis in the new government.
One Sunni assembly member called the choices a disappointment.
"I am here to say that the Sunni Arabs suffered today a blow of sectarian exclusion in this government," Mish'an al-Jabouri said after the vote.
The breakdown of names mentioned so far adds up to 16 Shiite Arabs, eight Kurds, five Sunni Arabs, a Christian and a Turkmen. (Cabinet list)
At a news conference Wednesday, al-Jaafari said he had submitted his proposed Cabinet to President Jalal Talabani for approval before the National Assembly could vote on them.
The main goal of the transitional government is to write a permanent constitution that will be put to voters in a referendum later this year. When the constitution gains approval, a permanent government will be elected.
Security will be one of the main obstacles the new government will face more than two years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam.
On Wednesday, gunmen shot and killed a National Assembly member on her doorstep in Baghdad -- the first top lawmaker assassinated since the legislative body was voted into power.
Lamee'a Abd Khidawi was shot to death when she answered the door to her house, Baghdad emergency police said. No one has claimed responsibility.
Chalabi a deputy prime minister
There are 32 ministerial posts and four deputy premiers in the Iraqi Cabinet. So far, six of the named ministers are women. ( Interactive: Iraqi government organizational chart)
"When we measure where we are today, compared to what we were before, this much that has been accomplished means that there will be no room for dictatorship," al-Jaafari said. "There will be democracy and God hopefully will help us."
Two of al-Jaafari's deputy prime ministers are well-known politicians. They include Ahmed Chalabi, a Shiite and one-time Pentagon favorite who fell out of favor with the United States. The former exile long touted that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction -- the chief reason the Bush administration cited in its invasion of the country. Such weapons have never been found.
The deputy prime minister is Rowsch Shaways, a Kurd who was an interim vice president.
At least one of the two vacant deputy prime minister positions is expected to go to a Sunni.
Al-Jaafari named himself, Chalabi and Shaways temporarily to three ministries. Al-Jaafari will run the Defense Ministry, Chalabi the Oil Ministry and Shaways the Electricity Ministry.
Other developments
A week before Britain's general elections, Prime Minister Tony Blair authorized the release of a secret memo from the country's attorney general that Blair says supports his assertion that the Iraqi invasion was legal. Opposition party members said the document proves the opposite: that the war, led by the United States but heavily assisted by Britain and its troops, was not a lawful act. (Full story)Mohsen Abdul Sadiq, an Interior Ministry brigadier general, was gunned down Thursday in southern Baghdad's Dora neighborhood, Iraqi police said. An earlier report that he was a deputy director of intelligence was incorrect.Former CIA Director George Tenet said he regretted assuring President Bush in 2002 that he had "slam dunk" evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, The Associated Press reports. (Full story)Romanian authorities say they believe three Romanian journalists kidnapped in Iraq are still alive a day after the deadline for their execution expired, a source close to the authorities told Reuters on Thursday. (Full story)A car bomb exploded Thursday near a joint U.S. and Iraqi military convoy in the northern city of Tikrit, killing at least two Iraqi soldiers and wounding at least 11 people, an official in the Tikrit governor's office said. There was no immediate word on U.S. casualties.Four Iraqi civilians died and 21 people were wounded Thursday near Musayyib, south of Baghdad, in an "indirect fire attack" on the Taheer patrol base, U.S. Marines said. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has sent letters to congressional leaders urging them to pass the final 2005 budget supplemental bill before the Army runs out of operating funds. At a Senate hearing Wednesday, Rumsfeld also said that "the last thing we need is a draft." (Full story)CNN's Ryan Chilcote, Enes Dulami, Kevin Flower, Ayman Mohyeldin and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
