The Iraqi parliament yesterday approved a Sunni Muslim to become defence minister and a Shi’ite to be interior minister, state television said, as part of a more inclusive government to help tackle Islamist insurgents.
It said parliament voted in favour of Khaled al-Obeidi, a Sunni from the northern city of Mosul that is now under Islamic State militant control. Mohammed al-Ghabban of the powerful Shi’ite political party, the Badr Organisation, which has a militia wing, is to take over the interior ministry.
Obeidi belongs to the party of Vice President Usama al-Nujaifi and is a confidant of his brother Atheel al-Nujaifi, the governor of Nineveh province that was overrun by Sunni Islamic State forces. Ghabban was seen as a compromise for interior minister after Badr chief Hadi al-Amri drew the objections of Sunni parties. – Reuters