Candidate for defense minister escapes bomb attack in northern Iraq

The candidate in the cross- sectarian parliamentary bloc for the place of the defense minister escaped a bomb assault in Iraq's northern town of Mosul on Sunday, a regional police source informed Xinhua.

Main General Khalid Met'ib al-Obiedi, a nominee for your vacant post of Iraqi defense minister, was wounded when a roadside bomb explosion struck his convoy close to the Technical Institute in eastern Mosul, wherever he functions as a instructor, the source said on problem of anonymity.

Mosul, the funds of your predominantly Sunni Arab province of Nineveh, is positioned some four hundred km north of Baghdad. The town has been a stronghold of insurgent groups and al-Qaida fighters immediately after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Obiedi, a former commander of an Iraqi army division below previous president Saddam Hussien, was officially proposed by the Iraqia parliamentary bloc headed by former prime minister Ayad Allawi, to join Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's cabinet as minister of defense.

Obiedi, like other candidates, continues to be watching for the result of tough haggling amid the Iraqi political blocs just before referring them to the parliament for approval following Maliki formed his cabinet five months in the past.

His candidacy for your defense submit remained solid in spite of reports explained that his name was withdrawn from your checklist of candidates.

On Dec. 21, the Iraqi parliament approved a partial government submitted by Maliki, ending 9 months of political deadlock immediately after the parliamentary polls on March 7, 2010.

On the other hand, vital posts including the security ministries of defense, inside and nationwide security are nonetheless not crammed as a result of disagreement amid the country's political blocs about these sensitive posts soon after greater than a 12 months due to the fact the country's elections ended up held.

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