Sectarian Bickering Over Unfilled Posts Interrupts Ceremony

By Nelson Hernandez and Omar Fekeiki - Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, May 21, 2006; A01

BAGHDAD, May 20 -- Iraq's first constitutional government since the fall of Saddam Hussein took office in a televised ceremony Saturday, with unfilled cabinet posts and last-minute sectarian bickering underlining the difficulties it will face in bringing peace and order to the country.

By The Associated Press
Sat May 20, 200,  2:39 PM ET

Iraq's new 39-position national Cabinet, which includes four women:
Prime minister: Nouri al-Maliki, Shiite.
Deputy prime minister: Barham Saleh, Kurd.
Deputy prime minister: Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie, Sunni Arab.

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2006 -
AMMAN, Jordan

He has a disconcerting facial tic and opens his cellphone with an odd jerk of the left wrist, as if barely controlling his muscles. Yet he is vigorous, razor sharp and articulate, and holds a commanding presence.

Saturday, 6 May 2006
Commentators in the Turkish press are quick to speculate about the timing of Iranian artillery shelling on Kurdish opposition camps in northern Iraq.

Some view the moves as an attempt to win over Turkish public opinion at a time of growing tensions betwen Tehran and Washington over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Others see the outlines of a new common security policy emerging in the region.

Sunday 07 May 2006, 17:50 Makka Time, 14:50 GMT  

The Kurdistan parliament has unified the administration of the Kurdish region of Iraq, ending the previous system of two separate local governments.

  SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 2006
 
 
BAGHDAD Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Sunday he had met insurgents and a deal to end violence could be reached with some groups.

 By Sarah Rainsford / BBC News, Van  

 Thu 4 May 2006 - SHIRKO ABDULLAH / IN RANIYAH, IRAQ

A KURD rebel commander threatened yesterday to retaliate if Turkey or Iran attacked guerrilla bases inside Iraq.

 Mon May 1, 2006 10:28 AM ET

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iranian forces battling Kurdish rebels shelled parts of northern Iraq's region of Kurdistan on Monday, the regional interior minister said, the second attack in 10 days.
Othman Mahmoud said Iranian troops shelled at least 10 villages in several border areas in northeastern Iraq.

 Wednesday, May 03, 2006
 BAGHDAD, Iraq  — The Iraqi government is using diplomacy to try to stop Iranian forces from shelling Kurdish rebel positions in the north and does not expect an incursion by ground forces, the foreign minister said Wednesday.