Cabinet reshuffle is life-saver for ministers accused of corruption- VP

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on Monday described the cabinet reshuffle proposed by Premier Nouri al-Maliki as a life-saver for the ministers accused of financial and administrative corruption. “A cabinet reshuffle requires the approval of the Parliament and political blocs,” Hashemi said in response to a question posed by an IraqiNews.com news agency correspondent during a press conference held in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. On Friday (May 22), Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called for launching a shakeup in his government, urging all participants in the political process to sustain his efforts in this regard. Maliki formed his national unity government on May 20, 2006. The lineup has comprised ministers from the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the KA and the Iraqi National List (INL) as well as the Sadrist Movement of Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr and the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) before they quit his government. The IAF has returned to the Maliki government, though. SS (P) 1