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May 21 (Reuters) -
Iraq's new government held its first cabinet meeting
on Sunday a day after parliament approved a national
unity government. Here are the main challenges it
faces:
COMMUNAL VIOLENCE
Hundreds of people are being killed every month in
Baghdad alone and at least 100,000, and probably
many more, have fled homes in fear of sectarian and
ethnic attacks, especially since the bombing of a
Shi'ite shrine in February. Some violence is the
work of organised armed groups on all sides, much is
diffuse and will be hard to control -- including
turf battles between rivals within the same
community. Like Balkan "ethnic cleansing" in the
1990s, factions are seeking to control
neighbourhoods.
SUNNI INSURGENCY
An organised guerrilla campaign has been waged
against U.S. forces and the troops of the Shi'ite-
and Kurdish-dominated interim administration for
three years. With the inclusion of Sunni leaders in
the new government, Maliki hopes to draw in more of
the disaffected minority in the north and west.
Diehard Sunni Islamists like al Qaeda's Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi and allies among followers of Saddam
Hussein will be attacked with force.
PRO-GOVERNMENT MILITIAS
Militias tied to political parties, particularly
Shi'ite and Kurdish groups that have dominated Iraq
since the war, have tens of thousands of men under
arms and, in a nation where virtually every
household has an automatic weapon, can call on many
more. Maliki says he will impose a state monopoly on
force, partly by recruiting militiamen to the police
and army. That in turn has raised questions about
sectarian and ethnic loyalties within the forces.
Sunnis accuse Shi'ite police of running death
squads.
ECONOMY
Over the past quarter-century, three wars,
international sanctions and most recently insurgent
sabotage have shattered Iraq's economy. It has the
world's third-largest known reserves of crude oil
but rebel attacks, as well as smuggling and
corruption, have crippled oil exports, which provide
virtually all state revenues. Helped by massive
international debt relief, Iraq's priorities are to
secure and rebuild oil infrastructure to at least
restore exports to sanctions-hit prewar levels.
BASIC SERVICES
Poor basic services have been a source of deep
frustration among Iraqis. Services such as
electricity, water treatment and sewerage are
operating at or below pre-war levels three years
after U.S. forces invaded. Sabotage has been a
factor. For many, an improvement on their few hours
of electricity every day ranks close behind better
security as the priority for the government.
However, building new power stations will take
years.
CONSTITUTION
Parliament has six months to agree specific rules on
how the 18 provinces can join with others to form
autonomous federal regions, like Kurdistan. It is
also supposed to form a committee to suggest within
four months revisions to the charter ratified last
year. Sunnis want changes because they fear
federalism will mean Shi'ite and Kurdish control of
the oil. Some suggest Maliki may try to shelve
renewed divisive debate on the constitution for now,
however, to concentrate on security and the economy.
Reuters
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