Prime Minister Nouri Maliki on Thursday named the heads of key security ministries — appointments Iraqi politicians had fought over bitterly amid increasing death tolls.Gen. Abdul-Qader Mohammed Jassim Mifarji, a Sunni Arab, was sworn in as defense minister, and Jawad Bolani, a Shiite, was installed as interior minister. Sherwan Waili, also a Shiite, was given the post of minister of state for national security. Sunni Arabs had insisted on the defense portfolio to counterbalance Shiite control of the Interior Ministry.
As sectarian violence has worsened, the disagreement over the security posts became the most pressing problem for Maliki's government. Its apparent solution Thursday was part of a double victory for the new prime minister, who had just announced the death of Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab Zarqawi.