Iraq gets first post-war cabinet

IRAQ got its first post-war cabinet yesterday as the funeral march for Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, killed in the Najaf car bomb massacre, continued its three-day journey to the revered cleric’s final resting place.

As the holy city still reeled after the deadly bombing, fresh violence erupted when two people were killed in an assault on a house owned by an official of Saddam’s banned Ba’ath party.

Iraq’s new cabinet is divided up among the country’s various communities, with 13 ministries going to Shi’ite Muslims, five to Sunnis, five to Kurds, one to a Turkmeni and one to the Christians. However, it will have to report to the Governing Council, appointed in late July by the US-led forces that ousted Saddam in April. Each ministry will continue to be supervised by a coalition-appointed advisor, most of whom are American.