(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Iraqi lawmakers approved defence and interior ministers yesterday, filling the key posts after weeks of delay as security forces battle jihadist militants who hold swathes of the country.
Khaled Al Obaidi, a Sunni who was named defence minister, was a senior officer in the air force of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein who specialised in engineering.
The international community hopes the government of Prime Minister Haidar Al Abadi will unite divided Iraq, whose forces are struggling to regain ground from the Islamic State (IS) group despite US-led air strikes.
Baghdad has been rocked by car bombs that have left dozens dead, although Washington insists the capital is not in danger of falling to the jihadists, who would have to make significant advances to even try to seize the city.
Obaidi hails from Mosul in the north - the first city to fall to militants led by IS who launched an offensive in June that overran much of the country's Sunni Arab heartland.
Gaining some level of support from Iraq's Sunni Arab minority - many members of which are deeply mistrustful of the Shia-led government and view the armed forces as an instrument of repression - will be key to pushing IS back.
The new interior minister, Mohammed Al Ghabban, is a member of the Shia bloc Badr.
His selection puts the interior ministry, which is responsible for the vast majority of the country's security forces, under the effective control of Hadi Al Ameri, the commander of the affiliated Badr militia.
The Iran-backed militia - now one of the main Shia groups fighting IS - was involved in Iraq's Sunni-Shia sectarian conflict, which peaked in 2006-2007 and left tens of thousands dead.
The appointments mark the first time in more than four years that the two positions have not been held by acting ministers.
MPs yesterday also signed off on a deputy premier, five other ministers and a minister of state.
MPs approved the majority of the cabinet on September 8, ushering in Abadi's term as prime minister, but he asked for another week to fill posts including the security ministries. Abadi's original candidates were then voted down by MPs, leaving the key positions unfilled.
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