UPDATE: Abadi forms government, Abdulmahdi becomes Oil Minister
Shahristani's bloc vows to boycott and the Kurds threaten to do the same if their demands go unmet, while Interior and Defense ministries remain unassigned for now.
(From Right to Left) Iraqi deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak, Deputy Prime Minister Baha al-Araji, Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Planning Minister Salman al-Jumaili and Oil Minister Adel Abdul-Mehdi sit after being approved during a parliamentary session to vote on Iraq's new cabinet on Sept. 8, 2014. [AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images]
BAGHDAD - A new slate of Iraqi ministers were sworn in Monday, but divisive issues already threaten to derail Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's nominally inclusive government, which is straining for support among the country's Kurdish and Sunni minorities.
Kurdish leaders are demanding action starting this week to resolve disputes over oil, money, land and the distribution of state powers, and have set a three-month deadline. Sunni parties have not yet finalized their nominee to head the Defense Ministry, and are jockeying to ensure the Interior Ministry does not fall into the hands of a polarizing Shia figure; both posts are still vacant.
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