Iraq leader in pledge to unite country

IRAQ Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari pledged to unite Iraq and fight terrorism as Iraq’s first democratically-elected government was sworn in yesterday amid continuing violence.

“You all know the heavy legacy inherited by this government. We are afflicted by corruption, lack of services, unemployment and mass graves,” Mr al-Jaafari told lawmakers after taking the oath of office before the National Assembly. “I would like to tell the widows and orphans ... your sacrifices have not gone in vein.”

One by one, Mr al-Jaafari and members of his Cabinet walked up to a podium and pledged to defend Iraq and its people. But five ministries, including the key defence and oil portfolios, remained in temporary hands and two deputy prime minister’s slots were unfilled as Mr al-Jaafari struggled to balance the demands of Iraq’s competing factions. Mr al-Jaafari had promised to form a government that would win over members of the disaffected Sunni Arab minority, believed to make up the backbone of the country’s deadly insurgency.

But members of his Shi’ite-dominated alliance rejected candidates with ties to Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime. After months of wrangling, Mr al-Jaafari negotiated a cabinet that so far includes 15 Shi’ite Arab ministers, seven Kurds, four Sunnis and one Christian. Two of four deputy prime ministers were also sworn in.

Mr al-Jaafari particularly wanted the defence minister’s job filled by a Sunni Arab as a way to draw the formerly dominant minority into the fight against an insurgency that is thought to be based primarily among Sunnis.

He will act as defence minister until consensus can be reached on a new one. Former Pentagon favourite Ahmad Chalabi, the Shi’ite deputy prime minister, was given temporary responsibility for the key oil ministry. Even with some

Sunnis in government, insurgents have made clear there will be no let-up in the violence.

President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, wished the new cabinet well in its historic task.

Violence continued unabated yesterday, including a gun battle in Ramadi that killed 12 suspected militants and three others.

Meanwhile, US investigators concluded that two missing marine fighter jets likely collided over southern Iraq as the body of one pilot was found. US officials in Baghdad said the search for the planes was continuing.

Separately, the US military said US-led forces recovered a letter that appeared to be addressed to Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi complaining about low morale among his followers.

The al-Zarqawi letter was seized in a raid in Baghdad on Thursday that also yielded an undated document listing sketch maps for kidnappings and bombings, the US military said.

The US said it was written by Abu Asim al-Qusaymi al-Yemeni, whom they identified as a member of al-Qaida in the Land Between the Two Rivers, a former names used by al-Zarqawi’s Al-Qaida in Iraq terror group.

Near the Syrian border on Monday, coalition forces tracked down and confronted suspected members of al-Qaida in Iraq, the US military said. The fighting, which included a US air strike, killed 12 militants and injured a six-year-old girl, the military said.