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| Iraq |
| Iraqi parliament backs defence, interior ministers |
| 2006-06-09 |
| The Iraqi parliament approved on Thursday Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's candidates for defence and interior ministers, ending wrangling that had threatened to plunge the new government into crisis. By a clear majority, it approved Jawad al-Bolani, a Shia, as interior minister and General Abdel Qader Jassim, a Sunni and until now Iraqi ground forces commander, as defence minister. Of 198 deputies present in the 275-seat assembly, 182 voted for Bolani while 142 supported Jassim, the speaker said. The vote took place shortly after Maliki - who has pledged to crush a Sunni Arab insurgency against the US-backed, Shia-led government - announced that Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, had been killed. |
| Posted by:Fred |