Iraqi lawmakers approved defence and interior ministers on Saturday after weeks of delay, as security forces battle jihadist militants who hold swathes of the country.
Khaled al-Obaidi of parliament’s Sunni Arab Itihad al-Quwa al-Wataniyah bloc was voted defence minister and Mohammed al-Ghabban of the Shiite Badr bloc was picked for the interior post.
Ghabban’s selection puts the interior ministry, which is responsible for the vast majority of the country’s security forces, under the effective control of Hadi al-Ameri, the commander of the Badr militia, who himself angled for the post but was rebuffed.
Iran-backed Badr, which is now one of the main armed Shiite groups fighting against Islamic State (IS) jihadists, was one of the parties to Iraq’s brutal Sunni-Shiite sectarian conflict that peaked in 2006-2007 and killed tens of thousands of people.
Obaidi was an officer in the air force of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
MPs approved the majority of the cabinet on September 8, ushering in Haidar al-Abadi’s term as prime minister, but he asked for another week to fill posts including the security ministries.
Abadi’s original candidates were then voted down by MPs, leaving the key positions unfilled as Iraq battles to push back IS, which has overrun large areas of the country since June.
However, even the late approval of the security ministers is a step up from Iraq’s last government, when the posts were filled on an interim basis for premier Nuri al-Maliki’s entire second four-year term.
Iraqi security forces have struggled to retake ground from IS and allied militant groups, and jihadist gains in recent weeks in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, prompted some officials to warn that the entire province could fall.
A US-led coalition is carrying out air strikes against IS in both Iraq and Syria, where it also holds significant areas.