Sunni Arabs will be offered six Cabinet posts in the new Iraqi government, equaling their representation in the 36-member interim government elected last January, according to Iraq's national security adviser. The Shi'ite grouping that won a plurality in elections last month, according to preliminary results, will ensure that "there will be no government without the inclusion of the Sunnis," Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said in a telephone interview from London.Election officials, meanwhile, announced that preliminary results from the parliamentary elections -- with Sunni-led parties winning 18 percent of the vote -- would be substantially unchanged when final results are announced later this week. Inclusion of the Sunnis, a group that has dominated Iraqi governments since the 1920s, is seen as vital to stemming a Sunni-led insurgency that has bedeviled efforts to rebuild the country. "People believe their inclusion may well quell the insurgency and will help form a strong government," Mr. al-Rubaie said. "This is not nominal; it is a meaningful inclusion."
The British-educated Shi'ite said it had not been decided whether the Sunnis would be allocated one of the two crucial security positions -- interior minister or defense minister. But he said that in his personal opinion, those posts should be awarded based on the merit of the candidates, not the political affiliation.