BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers approved Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s remaining Cabinet nominees Saturday, including for the critical defense and interior portfolios, completing the formation of a government that will strive to push the Islamic State extremist group out of the sprawling territory it has seized in recent months.
Control over the two powerful security ministries has long been a source of tension among Iraq’s feuding political factions.
The U.S. and other allies have pushed for a more representative government that can reach out to Sunnis, who felt marginalized by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Sunni discontent is widely seen as having fueled the Islamic State group’s advances in Iraq since June, when it captured the country’s second largest city Mosul.
Khaled al-Obeidi, a Sunni lawmaker from Mosul, was selected for the post of defense minister, by a vote of 175-85. He had served as an officer in Saddam Hussein’s military and holds a Ph.D. in political science.
Mohammed Salem al-Ghabban, a Shiite lawmaker with al-Abadi’s State of Law political bloc, was approved as minister of interior by a 197-63 vote. He holds degrees from universities in Tehran and London and he is pursuing a Ph.D. in political science in Baghdad. He was a longtime opponent of Saddam and was detained in 1979.
Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurdish politician and Iraq’s long-serving foreign minister, was named minister of finance, having previously been voted in as deputy prime minister.
Shiite lawmaker Adel Fahd al-Shirshab was named tourism minister, and Kurdish lawmaker Bayan Nouri was appointed minister of women’s affairs.
Iraq is facing its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops, with the Islamic State group in control of a third of the country.
Iraq’s U.S.-trained and equipped armed forces collapsed in the face of the militants’ advance, abandoning heavy weapons that the extremist group is now using in battles across Iraq and Syria.
Many have blamed the army’s poor performance on al-Maliki, saying he replaced top officers with inexperienced or incompetent political allies to monopolize power.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called the completion of the Iraqi government a “very positive step forward.”
“These were critical positions to be filled in order to assist with the organizing effort with respect to (the Islamic State),” Kerry said.
The State Department praised the move in a statement, saying the ministers “represent the diversity of Iraq, and complete an inclusive Cabinet.”
