The interim governing council on 1 September announced the 25 ministers who will form a cabinet until national elections and a sovereign government. The ministries are divided among religious and ethnic groups, with 13 allocated to Shiites, five to Sunnis, five to Kurds, one to a Turkoman and one to a Christian. The Oil Ministry goes to Shiite Ibrahim Mohammed Bahr al-Ulum, son of Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum - a scholar who fled Iraq in 1991. Al-Ulum resigned from the governing council on 30 August in the wake of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim's murder in the Najaf bombing, which killed at least 95 people. Al-Ulum gave up his post in the US-appointed body in protest at the Americans' failure to maintain security. Kurdish Democratic Party spokesman Hoshiar al-Zibari was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs, the position of Interior Minister will be held by Shiite member of the Iraqi National Accord Nuri Badran, and the Finance Ministry goes to Sunni Kamel al-Kailani. The functions of prime minister will be carried out by the council's rotating president.
Cabinet list:
Communications - Haider al-Ebadi, Shiite
Public Works - Nesreen Mustafa Sidiq Berwari, female, Kurd
Construction and Housing: Bayan Baqir Solagh, Shiite
Environment: Abdul-Rahman Sidiq Kareem, Kurd
Trade - Ali Adbul-Amir Allawi, Shiite
Planning - Mahdi al-Hafidh, Shiite
Education - Alaudin Abdul-Shaheeb al-Alwan, Shiite
Higher Education - Zeyad Abdul-Razzaq Mohammed Aswad, Sunni
Culture - Mofeed Mohammed Jawad al-Jazaeri, Shiite
Human Rights - Abdul-Basit Turki, Sunni
Foreign Affairs - Hoshyar Zebari, Kurd
Interior - Nori al-Badran, Shiite
Agriculture - Abdul-Ameer Rahima al-Abboud, Shiite
Sport and Youth - Ali Faik al-Ghaban, Shiite
Health - Dr. Khudayer Abbas, Shiite
Industry and Minerals - Mohammed Tawfik Raheem, Kurd
Justice - Hashim Abdul-Rahman al-Shibli, Sunni
Science and Technology - Rashad Mandan Omar, ethnic Turk
Work and Social Affairs - Sami Izara al-Majoun, Shiite
Electricity - Ayham al-Samaraie, Sunni
Finance - Kamil Mubdir al-Gailani, Sunni
Immigration and Refugees: Mohammed Jassem Khudair, Shiite
Water Resources - Abdul-Latif Rasheed, Kurd
Oil - Ibrahim Mohamed Bahr al-Uloum, Shiite
Transport - Behnam Zayya Polis, Assyrian Christian
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