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Iraq's new government introduced amid barrage of violence

Iraq’s first post-Saddam Hussein era government was unveiled after bitter negotiations between the US led-coalition and the outgoing Governing Council, while insurgents launched several deadly attacks to mar the ceremony. The interim Governing Council was dissolved and the new transitional executive put on display in a ceremony at one of the Saddam’s former palaces amid sniping that the body did not reflect the will of Iraqis. Sunni Muslim tribal magnate Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar was named president and 33 ministries were parceled out along religious and ethnic lines among Iraq’s combustible mix of Sunnis, Shiite Muslims and Kurds. A pair of car bombings killing 14 people and wounding dozens cast a shadow over the day, as well as the future of Iraq, which is due to receive full sovereignty on June 30. Mortars also rained down on the coalition’s headquarters in the capital in a rebel assault that started less than an hour after Yawar’s appointment was made public. Full Story