Iraq parliament okays 'national unity' govt

Shia Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said the country's first democratically-elected government in half century -- which includes members of the disaffected Sunni minority -- "preserves the unity of Iraq."

And he vowed it would "resort to all legal means, including emergency laws if necessary, to combat violence".

Sunday's approval of the final six cabinet posts came a day after a massive explosion in Baghdad killed at least 18 people, including two American security guards, bringing the death toll since the start of May to at least 250.

But the US military announced the arrest of more than 100 suspected insurgents, including 54 allegedly linked to al-Qaeda frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's network, in a series of weekend raids.

More than three months after the landmark January elections, Iraq's 275-member national assembly finally approved the nominees for six government posts which had remained empty since a partial cabinet was sworn in on May 3.

Saadun al-Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab, was appointed defence minister.

The oil ministry went to Ibrahim Bahr al-Ulum, son of a prominent Shia cleric, who previously held the post in the interim administration appointed by US-led forces in September 2003.

The three other ministers and one deputy premier appointed Sunday included three Sunnis and one Shia.

When he was officially appointed prime minister on April 7, Jaafari had said he would form a government within a week or two. But negotiations ran into trouble as Shias, Kurds and Sunnis competed for key jobs.

"We were careful to involve all political protagonists and this explains the delay in forming the government," Jaafari said Sunday.