Tuesday May 3, 2005
Iraq's new prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, pledged to unite Iraq's rival ethnic and religious factions and fight terrorism today as the nation's first democratically elected government was sworn in amid escalating violence.
"You all know the heavy legacy inherited by this government. We are afflicted by corruption, lack of services, unemployment and mass graves," Mr Jaafari told members of the national assembly in Baghdad.
After taking the oath of office, he said: "I would like to tell the widows and orphans ... your sacrifices have not gone in vain."
One by one, Mr Jaafari and members of his cabinet walked to a podium and pledged to serve honestly and defend Iraq and its people amid a surge of violence that has killed almost 170 people in six days.
Five ministries - including the key defence and oil portfolios - remain in temporary hands and two deputy prime minister's slots are still unfilled as Mr Jaafari struggles to balance the demands of Iraq's competing ethnic and religious factions.
Mr Jaafari had particularly wanted the defence minister's job filled by a Sunni 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 himself until consensus can be reached. Former Pentagon favourite Ahmad Chalabi, a Shia and one of four deputy prime ministers, was given temporary responsibility for the oil ministry.
Fifteen people, including 12 insurgents, were killed today about 70 miles outside Baghdad in a battle with US forces and Iraqi security forces, the US military said.
The insurgents were killed in the city of Ramadi after they attacked a checkpoint manned by US marines and Iraqi forces. An Iraqi soldier and two Iraqi civilians were also killed in the fighting.
The insurgents were carrying false papers and their identities were not immediately known, the US military said. Five militants were captured.
Meanwhile, in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, unidentified gunmen killed three Iraqi policemen in three separate attacks. In western Baghdad, three roadside bombs targeting police patrols exploded, injuring four officers.
At least 35 Iraqis died in eight bomb attacks yesterday. In other violence yesterday, US-led forces tracked down and killed 12 suspected members of "al-Qaida in Iraq" near the Syrian border. A six-year-old girl was injured in the operation, the US military said.
The US military also revealed that a letter had been recovered that they believe was addressed to the Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The letter was said to contain complains about low morale among Zarqawi's followers and the incompetence of leaders in the network.
Its authenticity could not be independently verified, but it was seized during a raid in Baghdad on April 28 that also yielded an undated document listing targeting information and sketch maps for kidnappings and bombings.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry today rejected claims by Saddam's chief lawyer, Ziad al-Khasawneh, that unnamed Iranian-backed Iraqi politicians were plotting to assassinate the ousted dictator in his Baghdad prison cell.
ยท The US military found the body of a US pilot from one of two missing F/A-18 jets early today. The two jets, from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, went missing while flying in support of operations last night, the US command said. Investigators concluded that the jets likely collided over southern Iraq, a senior US defence official said at the Pentagon.