Baghdad, August 29 (IslamOnline.net) - U.S. named Governing Council in Iraq decided Thursday night to form a new ministerial cabinet for the country on “sectarian and ethnic basis,” according to Council sources Friday, August 29.

The sources told IOL correspondent that the distribution of the cabinet seats, the
first since Iraq’s occupation by U.S.-led forces last April, were based on the same “sectarian and ethnic” basis that comprised the seats of the Governing Council itself.

The Muslim Shiites were granted 13 ministries, the Muslim Sunnis were given 5 seats, the Kurds - 5 seats, the Turkmen - 1 seat and the Christian Assyrians 1 seats, making the total seats of the new cabinet 25 seats - same number of the Council.

Among the chief ministerial seats given to the Shiites were the Ministries of Oil, Interior, Trade, Planning, Health, Education, Agriculture and Housing, the sources said.

The portfolios given to the Sunnis were the Ministries of Finance, Electricity, Higher Education & Scientific Research, as well as the Ministry of Labor & Social Affairs.

The Kurds, chiefly representing Iraqi Kurdistan in northern Iraq, now under control by the Democratic Party of Kurdistan (DPK) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), were granted the Foreign Ministry and the Public Works Ministry as well as three other undisclosed ministries.

The Turkmen were granted the post of Education Ministry and the Christian Assyrians the post of Transport & Communications Ministry.

The classical political parties and organizations were not given much attention or any clear opportunity at the formation of the new Iraqi cabinet, the first cabinet based on sectarian and ethnic basis in the history of Iraq.

It is clear that those parties and organizations would represent the new “Iraqi opposition” from now on, because the main ruling authorities in both the Governing Council and the new cabinet were represented on sectarian and ethnic basis.

The new cabinet, similar to the Governing Council, does not include the
post of Prime Minister, and the Governing Council seems to have cancelled the ministries of defense, information and endowment & religious affairs.

Council sources said all circles representing the Governing Council have
agreed to cancel the ministry of endowment & religious affairs due to
differences and strong opposition by the 13-strong Shiite members in the 25-member council.

They said they have "followed" the decision of the Representative of then Coalition Forces, Paul Bremer, who had already decided to cancel the Iraqi army, meaning the abrogation of the defense ministry as well as the ministry of information. The decision practically meant the abolishment of both defense and information ministries.

The decision threw more than 450,000 soldiers and officers to the streets, as well as over 5,000 information ministry employees, despite the fact that Bremer had decided to form a “new army,” with a membership not exceeding 40,000 soldiers and officers.

Bremer also decided to form a new police force, thousands of who would be trained in Hungary, presumably to exceed 50,000.