The Iraqi National Assembly approved on Sunday the names of candidates for the vacant seats remaining in the new government.
Iraqi Prime Minister, Dr. Ibrahim Al-Jaafari said an agreement has been reached on the names of people to occupy six out of the seven remaining seats in the government.
National Assembly members unanimously agreed to appoint Abdmutlak Al-Jabouri as the third Deputy Prime Minister, Sunni Arab Saadoun Al-Dilaimi as Defense Minister, Ibrahim Bahriluloum as Minister of Oil (son of a prominent Shiite cleric), Hashem Al-Chabli as Minister of Human Affairs, Mohsen Shalash as Minister of Electricity and Basam Al-Nijaithi as Minister of Industry.
Al-Jaafari's government was formed after the January 30 parliamentary elections in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Iraq's newly approved human rights minister turned down the job Sunday, saying he was selected only because he was a Sunni Arab.
"Concentrating on sectarian identities leads to divisions in the society and state, and for that reason I respectfully decline the post," Hashim Abdul-Rahman al-Shibli told reporters during a news briefing.
Al-Shibli was one of four Sunni Arabs handed posts in Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's new government Sunday, bringing their total representation in Cabinet to seven.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
