Iraq's first freely-appointed cabinet was sworn in Tuesday but the key ministries of oil and defense were not filled as the country's three main religious factions failed to agree on candidates for the jobs, Platts informs.
Also left vacant were the six posts that had been assigned to the Sunni Muslims, who make up a minority in Iraq but who were the ruling faction under the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein.
Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed Chalabi, a former opposition leader who was once a key ally of the US Pentagon, was named last week acting oil minister pending the appointment of a permanent minister to replace Thamer Ghadban.
Iraqi officials had said that former interim oil minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, a Shi'ite Muslim, was expected to be sworn in as oil minister. But an aide to Bahr al-Ulum would not confirm to Platts that the position had been offered.
The defense ministry also remained without a minister, a position that had been reportedly allocated to the Sunni Muslims.
