Iraq's parliament has opened in Baghdad and is expected to approve the prime minister designate's new full-term government.

The session inside the Green Zone started two and a half hours late on Saturday.

Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister-designate, said on Friday that a decision had been made on all posts in the cabinet except for defence and interior ministries.

Despite his failure to find acceptable nominees for the two posts of defence and interior, it was unlikely that al-Maliki would take the risk of presenting a deal parliament would reject.

Sunni for defence

Sunni Arabs want the defence ministry, which runs the army, while the Shia want the interior ministry, which controls the police.

The Cabinet list, its members and its number have not been formally released, but al-Maliki said he would make it public after parliament, known as the council of representatives, finishes. It remains unclear what will happen if any nominee is rejected.

Al-Attiyah told the Associated Press that al-Maliki himself would serve as acting interior minister for a week. He said that Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie, a Sunni Arab who is a deputy with the main Accordance Front, would temporarily head the defence ministry for the same period to allow time for agreement on permanent ministers.

Al-Zubaie, who is the Sunni Arab nominee for deputy premier, heads the agriculture engineers union and is a member of a Sunni political group, the General Conference of the Iraqi People.

Coalition support

Meanwhile, Adnan al-Dulaimi, a senior official in the main Sunni Arab Accordance Front, said his coalition would support al-Maliki's Cabinet choices.

But he said a decision should be made quickly because "the security situation is still unstable and there are numerous acts of killing and theft".

PHOTO CAPTION

Sadr City area of Baghdad, Iraq Saturday, May 20, 2006. (AP)