BAGHDAD, May 20: Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to rein in violence and heal Iraq’s sectarian wounds after parliament approved his national unity government on Saturday to end months of stalemate that raised fears of civil war.

Hours after bombs killed 24 people to underline the scale of his task, Maliki said restoring stability was the top priority of a coalition whose formation gave Iraq its first fully sovereign government since US troops overthrew Saddam Hussein.

Two days short of a constitutional deadline, a deal was struck late on Friday that was backed by most sectarian and ethnic groups and which allowed for a few more days of talking to name ministers to the key interior and defence ministries.

“We will work within a framework that will preserve the unity of the Iraqi people,” Maliki, a Shia, said.

Reading out a government programme that highlighted security and the economy, Maliki said he would work to improve the capabilities of Iraq’s army and police so that foreign troops could “go back to their countries” on an “objective timetable”.

Maliki’s cabinet was approved by a show of hands, minister by minister, after a turbulent start to the parliamentary session, when some minority Sunni leaders spoke out against the last-minute deal and more than a dozen walked out.

Eleventh-hour battles over the key posts of interior and defence left those jobs vacant for now, filled respectively by Maliki, a tough-talking Shia, and his Sunni deputy prime minister, Salam al-Zobaie. The Kurdish deputy premier will take care of the National Security Ministry for the time being.—Reuters