Three people were killed in a series of gun and bomb attacks in Baghdad, after a day in which almost 50 people died and a top diplomat from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was abducted.
Iraq's dominant Shia bloc had announced that it expected that a partial cabinet lineup would be unveiled on Wednesday, but without naming the heads of the key interior and defense ministries on whom Iraq's future security will depend.
The country's Shias, Sunni Arabs and Kurds have been squabbling over the formation of a national unity government since December's landmark election for the first permanent parliament of the post-Saddam Hussein era - leaving a political vacuum that has seen violence soar across the country.
And in a sign that politicians had still a way to go before finalizing the cabinet lineup, one Shia party warned that it would not take part in the government.
"We will not participate in the new government and we will vote against its approval in parliament. This won't change the result of the vote but it's a matter of principle," a spokesman for the Fadhila party said.
The party holds only 15 seats in the 275-seat chamber and its vote is unlikely to affect overall results but its stance underscored continued disputes ahead of a May 22 deadline for formation of a government.
"The composition of the government may be announced without naming the defense and interior ministry posts," Shia deputy Hassan Al Sunaid said.
"A number of candidates have been presented to [prime minister-designate Nuri Al Maliki] for these posts, but he has not yet made his choice," Sunaid said.
Shia politicians presented a list outlining the make-up of a proposed government on Tuesday but observers said that an accord was unlikely in Wednesday's parliament session.
A US diplomat told journalists that the formation of the cabinet could take longer than hoped, but would make the May 22 constitutional deadline.
"It's a slow process, but you have to understand it's something they have not had before, a national unity government," the official said.
There was no word from the captors of the UAE's top diplomat to Iraq, Naji Al Nuami "Abu Rashid", who was seized from the Gulf nation's cultural annex in Baghdad on Tuesday.
"I ask the kidnappers to release the Emirati diplomat Naji [Al] Nuami. This diplomat has done much work for Iraq and the people of Iraq," Adnan Al Dulaimi, the head of the Sunni Concord bloc, said.
Observers have said that strong, independent leaders in the security ministries are needed to stem the violence, and President Jalal Talabani on Monday said that he would not support a cabinet without the defense and interior ministers being named.
Sunaid said that the two favorites to head the interior ministry are both independent Shias - Ahmed Chalabi, Washington's former protégé, and Qassem Daoud, an ex-national security minister.
"The three names most often cited for the defense ministry post are Hashem Al Hasni, the former parliament speaker, the former minister of industry Osama Al Najafi, and ex-defense minister Saadun Al Dulaimi, all Sunnis," Sunaid said.
The new cabinet will be made up of more than 30 ministries, he said, providing the following rough breakdown of the cabinet posts:
- The Shiite United Iraqi Alliance is expected to take at least 15 ministries, including the interior, oil and finance portfolios.
- The Kurdish coalition is to get five ministries, including the foreign affairs and industry portfolios.
- Former interim prime minister Ayad Allawi's secular list is expected to take five ministries, including justice and defense.
- The Sunni Concord Front is expected to take four ministries, including planning and higher education, while the Sunni faction of Salah Al Motlaq will take three.
- Christians, Turkmen and Shia Kurds are expected to hold one ministry each.
© 2006 Agence France-Presse
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