U.S. hails new Iraqi govt. as “major milestone” in fighting IS

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. has hailed the creation of a new government in Iraq as a major milestone and a crucial step towards defeating the militant group, Islamic State (IS), according to BBC News.

Secretary of State John Kerry said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's cabinet had the "potential to unite all of Iraq's diverse communities".

Posts have been shared between the Shia Arab majority, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

Kerry is travelling to Saudi Arabia and Jordan this week as part of efforts to build a coalition to confront IS.

The jihadist group has taken control of large swathes of Iraq and Syria and in June declared the creation of a "caliphate", or Islamic state.

Among the first to telephone Abadi to congratulate him was U.S. President Barack Obama, who hopes the new government can start pulling Iraq back together.

The two leaders "agreed on the importance of having the new government quickly take concrete steps to address the aspirations and legitimate grievances of the Iraqi people", a White House statement said. The U.S. had made the approval of a unity government a condition for increased military assistance.

Abadi, a Shia Islamist, named three deputies - Hoshyar Zebari, the Kurdish outgoing foreign minister, Saleh al-Mutlak, a secular Sunni who held the same post in the last government, and Baha Arraji, a Shia Islamist and former MP.

Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shia former vice-president, was appointed oil minister and former PM Ibrahim Jaafari, also Shia, will be foreign minister. No defence or interior minister was named but Mr Abadi promised to do so within a week.

He vowed to "allow all people in Iraq to participate in liberating the cities and provinces which have been taken over by terrorist groups... and to bring back security and stability".