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| Iraq-Jordan |
| New Iraqi government takes office, vows to keep the peace |
| 2005-05-04 |
| The first members of a democratically elected government in decades took office Tuesday in Iraq against a backdrop of surging violence, pledging one by one to serve honestly, defend the nation and its people — and keep peace. But despite months of tortuous negotiations, there was no final decision on seven Cabinet positions — including the key oil and defense ministries. More critical still, the partial Cabinet fails to give the country's disaffected Sunni Arab minority, believed to be driving the insurgency, a meaningful governing stake. Many lawmakers skipped the ceremony, which took place in a half-empty conference hall deep within Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann reports. Among those absent was the government's most senior Sunni member: Vice President Ghazi al-Yawer. According to Strassman, there will be no honeymoon period for this new government: There's a Cabinet to round out, a constitution to write and a civil war to avoid. Investigators concluded that two missing U.S. Marine fighter jets likely collided over southern Iraq, a senior U.S. defense official said Tuesday at the Pentagon. U.S. officials in Baghdad said the body of one pilot was found and that the search for the planes was continuing. U.S.-led forces have recovered a letter they believe was addressed to Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi complaining about low morale among his followers and the incompetence of leaders in his terror network, the military said Tuesday. The authenticity of the letter could not be independently verified. The letter was seized during an April 28 raid in Baghdad, which also yielded an undated document listing targeting information and sketch maps for kidnappings and bombings, the military said in a statement. In Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, unidentified gunmen killed three Iraqi policemen in three separate attacks, police 1st Lt. Qassim Mohammed said. Three roadside bombs targeted police patrols in western Baghdad, injuring four officers, police Maj. Musa Abdul Karim said. Near the Syrian border on Monday, coalition forces tracked down and confronted suspected members of al Qaeda in Iraq, the U.S. military said. The fighting, which included a U.S. airstrike, killed 12 militants and injured a 6-year-old girl, the military said. Six coalition soldiers also were wounded, it said, without specifying their nationalities. A car bomb exploded in western Baghdad, killing two Iraqis and wounding two others, the U.S. military said. Also in western Baghdad, three roadside bombs targeted police patrols in western Baghdad, injuring four officers, police said. Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari played down the disputes still roiling his government more than three months after millions of Iraqis risked their lives to vote in landmark parliamentary elections on Jan. 30. He blamed the delay in finalizing Cabinet's members on Sunni infighting and said the matter would be resolved in two to three days. "But we are not in a hurry," he told reporters after Tuesday's ceremony. "We want the choice to be accepted by all the Iraqi people." Al-Jaafari's government has less than eight months left to complete its main tasks: draft a new constitution by mid-August and submit it to a referendum no later than Oct. 15. If approved, new elections must be held by Dec. 15, under Iraq's transitional law. Al-Jaafari pledged to get to work confronting the "heavy legacy" left by Saddam Hussein — a country afflicted by poverty, corruption and mass graves. "This government belongs to the Iraqi people," he said. "Iraqis will reap the fruits of their sacrifices. These sacrifices have not gone in vain." But even with some Sunnis in government, insurgents have made it clear there will be no letup in the violence tearing at the country, unleashing a torrent of bombings, ambushes and other attacks that have killed nearly 150 people since the National Assembly approved the partial Cabinet lineup on Thursday. Violence continued Tuesday, including scattered bombings and a gunbattle in Ramadi that the U.S. military said killed 12 suspected militants. Still, as Strassmann reports, Iraqi police are making progress. In Baghdad, police found a car packed with explosives. By one Iraqi intelligence estimate, in Baghdad alone, at any one moment there are 70 car bombs ready for targeting. Al-Jaafari had promised to form a government that would win over the Sunnis, offering them six ministries and a deputy prime minister's slot. But members of his Shiite-dominated alliance rejected candidates with ties to Saddam's regime, which brutally repressed the majority Shiites and Kurds. Further complicating negotiations were demands by Kurdish leaders for the human rights ministry, which al-Jaafari had intended to offer to a Sunni, lawmakers said. There has also been competition within al-Jaafari's own alliance for the electricity and oil ministries. The Cabinet that took office Tuesday includes 16 Shiite Arabs, nine Kurds, four Sunnis and one Christian. Two deputy prime minister's slots — including one al-Jaafari hopes to offer to a woman — were left vacant and five ministerial portfolios are in temporary hands. Al-Jaafari himself will be acting defense minister, a post he hopes to fill with a Sunni. And former Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi, a Shiite Arab and one of four deputy prime ministers, has temporary responsibility for the oil ministry. The new government will hold its first meeting within days, al-Jaafari said. Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite whose caretaker government took charge of the country while al-Jaafari struggled to form his Cabinet, did not attend Tuesday's ceremony. His office said he was out of the country, but declined to specify where. Allawi's Iraqi List party was not included in the new Cabinet, but has said it will work with the government from the opposition. Also absent Tuesday was al-Yawer. "If al-Yawer attended the ceremony, it would have been the end of him politically," said Mishaan al-Jubouri, head of a disgruntled Sunni coalition that had hoped for more seats in Cabinet. "I entered the hall and went out again on purpose, just to show them that I am not agreeing with what is happening." Meanwhile, insurgents attacked a checkpoint in Mosul, 70 miles west of Baghdad, and a gunbattle ensued that killed 12 militants, the U.S. military said. One Iraqi soldier and a civilian died in the fighting and two soldiers were wounded. Two U.S. Marines were also slightly injured, the military said. Five militants were captured, the statement said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |