The Iraqi parliament on Sunday approved the nominees to fill six vacant portfolios in thecountry's transitional cabinet.

The six nominees were approved by 112 vote out of 155 members of the 275-seat parliament with 120 absence.

The minority Sunni Arabs were given four posts, including a deputy prime minister and ministers of defense, industry and human rights.

Abed Mutlaq was appointed deputy prime minister, Saadoun al-Dulaimi as defense minister, Hashim al-Shebli as human rightsminister and Usama al-Najafi as industry minister.

Ibrahim Buhr al-Uloum, a Shiite Muslim, was named oil minister, an important post in the oil-rich nation. Another Shiite Muhsen Shalash was appointed as electricity minister.

But one of the four vice premiership in the 36-member cabinet led by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari remained empty."I would like to have a woman as my fourth deputy prime minister," al-Jaafari told reporters after the parliament's vote.

On measures to stem the escalating insurgent attacks, Jaafari said "we may enforce the martial law in the country... and may prolong it in order to preserve security."

Al-Jaafari had promised to include all Iraq's major ethnic and religious groups in a national unity government after the Shiite bloc won 140 seats in the National Assembly and Kurdish parties came second with 75 seats in the landmark elections.

The Sunni Arab minority dominated Iraq during Saddam Hussein's rule but was sidelined with only 17 seats after the Jan. 30 parliamentary elections.

Bickering among leading political blocs over the shape of the new government delayed the formation of a cabinet for months, infuriating many Iraqis who voted in the elections despite threats and suicide bomb attacks on polling stations.

A partial cabinet was sworn in last Tuesday but several posts remained vacant, largely because of disagreements over which candidate should run ministries earmarked for Sunni Arabs.

Several candidates for defence minister were rejected by Shiites because of past ties to Saddam.

Source: Xinhua