BAGHDAD - Iraqi Vice President Ghazi al-Yawar insisted Thursday that the country's full cabinet be formed within two days or that Sunni Arabs might pull out.
"It's simple and easy, if they (Shiites) fail to satisfy the Sunni Arabs ... then I think the Sunnis might simply withdraw their candidates" from the government, he told reporters.
Minority Sunnis were granted five seats in the new cabinet, approved Thursday by parliament. Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, a Shiite, promised they would get at least one more portfolio when the government list is completed in the coming days.
Yawar, a Sunni tribal leader, urged Jaafari to fill the vacant posts within two days, saying: "I want this government to be completed and we refuse to leave it as it is."
Five portfolios, including the key ministries of oil and defence, have yet to be attributed.
Yawar argued that the beleaguered Sunni community, which used to be dominant under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, had been shortchanged by Jaafari.
"If we don't have a result and don't have a voice, then it will be a major setback," he warned.
The government line-up was meant to compensate for the Sunni Arabs' lack of representation in parliament, following the January 30 elections in which the minority community's participation was very low, due to security threats and boycott calls.
04/28/2005 14:33 GMT