Iraq’s National Coalition Legislature denies that Defense Ministry’s post was share of al-Iraqiya Coalition

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Legislature of the National Coalition, led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Khalid al-Assady, has said on Saturday that “the agreement among political blocs had confirmed that the National Security and Interior Ministers posts were to be assigned for the Shiite Community and the Defense Minister for the Sunni Community, denying that the agreement had given al-Iraqiya Coalition the post of Defense Minister.   “Talk about a new agreement that the Interior Ministry be assigned for the National Coalition, the Defense Ministry for al-Iraqiya Coalition and the National Security Ministry for the Kurdistan Coalition, is incorrect,” Assady told IraqiNews.com news agency.   The Spokeswoman for al-Iraqiya Coalition had told IraqiNews.com earlier that “the State of Law Coalition had insisted on the nomination of Saadoun al-Duleimy or Khalid al-Obeidy for the Defense Minister’s post, and began to say that the post had been assigned for the Sunni Component and not for al-Iraqiya Coalition, which is in fact a justification to keep the security ministries in the hands of Prime Minister Maliki.”   Assady also called on the Parliament Speaker, Usama al-Nujeify, to “present the names presented for him by the Prime Minister for voting, in order to gain the necessary votes that would assign them for the said ministries posts.”   Differences have taken place since months about the candidates for the security ministers posts, that are still vacant, especially the posts of Interior and Defense Ministers, with the first being the share of the National Coalition and the second of al-Iraqiya, with each side rejecting the candidate of the other.   As regards to the National Council for Strategic Policies (NCSP), Assadi said that “the statement of the Spokeswoman of al-Iraqiya Coalition, Maysoun al-Damaloujy, charging the National Coalition with non-approval of the NCSP, had been correct, because the National Coalition did not want the NCSP to be added on the Arbil Agreement among the political parties.”   Damaloujy told IraqiNews.com on Friday that the State of Law Coalition did not agree on the settlement of the security ministries, nor on the initiative of Kurdistan Region’s President’s initiative towards the formation of the NCSP.   SKH (FT) 402