BAGHDAD, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi prime minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki will submit his new cabinet list to the parliament for approval on Saturday, a Sunni legislator said Wednesday.

    "The prime minister called on the parliament to convene Saturday to approve his government lineup and its political program," Hussein al-Falluji from the Iraqi Consensus Front told Xinhua.

    The Sunni Arab bloc, meanwhile, threatened to withdraw from the political process if it failed to get the defense portfolio.

    "We have informed the incoming prime minister that if we don't get the defense ministry, we will withdraw from the political process," Falluji said.

    Maliki, from the dominant Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, was charged with forming a coalition within 30 days on April 22.

    But dispute over key posts delayed the formation of Iraq's first full-term government since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Enditem