BAGHDAD, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi newly-installed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Sunday that he needs two or three days to nominate independent officials to fill the three security portfolios in his government.
"I don't think we need more than two or three days to nominate a minister of interior and defense," Maliki told reporters after the first cabinet meeting.
Al Maliki made the remarks one day after his national unity cabinet line-up was approved at a special parliament session.
Because of political infighting of the Iraqi factions, al-Maliki was forced to leave three important cabinet posts temporarily filled on Saturday's parliament session.
The three are the interior, the defense and the ministry of state for security affairs, which are currently headed by the prime minister himself and two of his deputies.
Meanwhile, the Shiite prime minister said that his government would offer dialogue for those prepared to renounce violence to stem the sustaining violence.
Al-Maliki vowed to enforce the state's monopoly on the armed forces, cracking down on militias.
"We will use maximum force against terrorism, but we also need a national initiative," he said.
"We cannot confront terrorism only by using force, we need other measures besides security, we need national reconciliation,"he said. "We have a new plan of reconciliation for Iraq to restore trust."
An Arab League national reconciliation meeting is due to take place next month in Baghdad.
"Weapons should only be allowed in the hands of the government. Militias, death squads, terrorism, killings and assassinations are odd cases and we should put an end to the militias," al-Maliki said.
On Saturday, al-Maliki and his 40-member cabinet took the oath of office inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, where the U.S. and Iraqi forces provide security from the turmoil sweeping the country.
It was the first full-term government since the U.S.-led invasion that ousted former president Saddam Hussein in 2003. Enditem | 
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