Washington Post
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four months of political paralysis in Iraq ended Saturday when a newly convened parliament chose seven top officials to run the country's first long-term government since the fall of Saddam Hussein three years ago.
The prime minister-designate, Jawad al-Maliki, an outspoken advocate for the country's Shiite Muslim majority, will have the colossal task of mending a nation nearly shattered by decades of war, dictatorship and sectarian rivalry.
He is joined by a Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, and a Sunni Arab parliament speaker, Mahmoud al-Meshhedani, in a government that reflects a long debate over how power would be divided between the ethnic and sectarian groups that make up Iraq's population.
Security and unity
``The great thing will be if I succeed in cementing national unity and regaining security, stability and services,'' Maliki said at a news conference that followed parliament's meeting in Baghdad. ``We have been able to accomplish several things today, and with these accomplishments we shall complete the building of the new Iraq on the basis of freedom, equality, plurality for all.''
U.S. officials hope a government that fairly shares power between Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds will help reduce violence, in turn allowing some of the 125,000 U.S. service members in Iraq to go home. It is still unclear, however, if the situation can be resolved quite so neatly. Maliki has been given a month to form a Cabinet of officials who will run key ministries controlling the army, police and the country's oil sector -- a process that could be as difficult as was choosing a prime minister.
``This historic achievement by determined Iraqis will make America more secure,'' President Bush said Saturday during a trip to California.
Soldiers killed
As political developments in Baghdad were unfolding, U.S. military officials announced that five U.S. soldiers were killed south of the capital. Few details were released other than that four died when their vehicle was hit in a roadside bombing Saturday. The fifth soldier also died in a roadside bombing, but it was not immediately clear if it was the same incident.
The process of forming a government has been stalled by a debate over whether incumbent Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari would be able to keep his post in the face of heavy opposition.
Thursday, Jaafari bowed to heavy pressure from Sunnis, Kurds and some members of his own coalition and gave up his nomination to a new term. The next day, top Shiite officials nominated Maliki, a forceful political operator in his mid-50s, to take Jaafari's place.
After receiving an endorsement from the Shiite coalition's full membership Saturday morning, parliament approved Maliki's nomination, as well as those of Talabani and two deputy presidents and Meshhedani and two deputies.
A blank slate
Sunnis and Kurds said Maliki would start with a blank slate, unlike Jaafari, who they considered a weak leader during his year as the transitional prime minister.
``It's a good step forward, and we will cooperate with him,'' Mahmoud Othman, a senior Kurdish politician, said of Maliki. ``I don't think he's a strong sectarian. Now he's a prime minister, and he has to rule all Iraq, he has to be balanced and objective.''
The Associated Press contributed to this report.