Iraqi leaders on Friday reached agreement on the new government, which will be presented to parliament for approval on Saturday, but the defense and interior portfolios remained undecided.

 

The agreement was reached after Prime Minister-designate Nurial-Maliki, a Shiite, met with Sunni and Kurdish leaders and other Shiite officials on Friday night, according to the pan-Arab al-Arabiya satellite TV.

 

Citing well-informed sources, the TV also reported that the Iraqi leaders agreed on the line-up of the new government except for the posts of the key defense and interior ministers.

 

Despite the vacancies, al-Maliki will present the new cabinet to parliament for approval on Saturday as scheduled and the two portfolios will be filled later, the report added.

 

The establishment of a new Iraqi government, the first full-term cabinet after the US-led invasion in 2003, will formally end a months-long political deadlock since the December polls that elected a new 275-member parliament.

 

The incoming new national unity government, grouping together Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, will have to fight an uphill battle to curb violence and revive a war-battered economy.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2006)