Bickering politicians warned that talks on forming a government of national unity that have already dragged on four months could take another month amid new differences between rival factions.
Six people were killed in attacks on Tuesday, including four in a roadside bombing near a restaurant in north Baghdad.
Iraqi troops meanwhile launched a massive search operation in Baghdad's Sunni district of Adhamiyah after fierce exchanges with insurgents on Monday. Five rebels were killed and seven captured in the seven-hour firefight but dozens more were believed to have melted away, the US military said.
US troops also came under massive attack in the western city of Ramadi on Monday, with several car bombs being driven at the heavily fortified government building that houses a marine base and provincial government offices.
The marines came under fire from a nearby mosque, the military said, adding that it was the fourth time in a month that the place of worship had been abused by the rebels.
Nearly 50 US troops have been killed across Iraq since April 1, marking one of the bloodiest periods for the military since the invasion.
US leaders have made clear that they believe that the protracted power vacuum is fueling the violence and have repeatedly demanded greater sense of urgency from Iraqi politicians.
But with new divisions emerging over the distribution of posts in a national unity government, this time between previously allied Sunnis and secularists, politicians warned that it was likely to be another month before consensus emerged.
"There are still many differences within the groups and I think we need at least a month to form the government," said Zhafer Al Ani, spokesman for the main Sunni Arab bloc, the National Concord Front.
Ani insisted that the ousted Sunni Arab elite, which dominated SADDAM HUSSEIN'S government and all previous Iraq regimes, would not stand in the way of the formation of a national unity government.
But he rejected calls by the secularist faction of former prime minister Ayad Allawi to be given one of the two posts of vice-president, a position currently held by a Sunni.
"There is another problem. Allawi wants the post of vice-president, which is ours," he said.
A senior official from Allawi's faction, which has 25 MPs in the 275-seat parliament against 44 for the National Concord Front, confirmed their demand.
"Allawi is our candidate for the vice-president and we will also announce a candidate for the deputy prime minister's post once the prime minister is fixed by the Shia alliance," Rassim Al Awadi said.
He acknowledged that Sunnis had reservations about the candidacy of Allawi, a pro-Western secular Shia, because "they say the two vice-presidencies are meant for Shia and Sunni candidates".
"We do not agree with such sectarian sharing," said Awadi. "Nothing in the constitution says that the posts should be shared like this. We are Iraq, not Lebanon."
Sunnis also face stiff opposition from the Shia alliance to their candidate for the post of parliament speaker.
Tareq Al Hashemi, leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party, which is a key member of the Front, has been nominated, but dominant Shia bloc the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) - which has 128 seats in parliament - has opposed it.
"The Shia opposition is a reaction to our opposition to Jaafari," Ani charged.
Sunni Arabs and Kurds alike strongly oppose the UIA nomination of incumbent Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari to head a new government, saying that he has failed to curb raging sectarian violence.
Meanwhile, the Arab League's new envoy to Iraq arrived in Baghdad to open the 22-member body's mission.
The arrival of Moroccan diplomat Mokhtar Lamani signals the establishment of diplomatic ties between post-Saddam Iraq and the League, which had been under fire in Baghdad over its lack of involvement since the invasion.
"The situation in Iraq is now not just local any more, but it is regional and international and the role of this mission will help Iraqis pass through this phase," foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari said.
© 2006 Agence France-Presse
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