Middle East media welcome Iraqi Cabinet but with caution

Middle East media officially welcomed the new Iraqi government, but with some caution and hesitation. Headlines in official newspapers described the formation of the new cabinet as a "painful birth", stressing that Iraq faced an enormous challenge to overcome ethnic and religious differences and to also end the violence that is plaguing the country. This comes as political stalemate at the top had prevented Iraq for forming a new much needed cabinet to start tackling the issues of insurgents who still seem to have an active hold in the country. There have been comments made that the Sunni Arabs are also not getting the right representation in the new cabinet, something that needs to be solved said Egyptian Foreign Minster Ahmed Abul Gheit. "Jockeying among the various communities is going to carry on, and instability last for some time." Others described it as a much more bleak situation. Osama Saraya, editorial director at the government magazine said, "We would hope for a political springtime in Iraq but, alas, the winter continues." Saraya also criticized the return of exiles to Iraq saying that they were not strong enough to govern. An Emirati paper, Al-Ittihad, said that after "its painful birth, the government will now have to restore the confidence and the optimism of its citizens and, most importantly, tackle the waves of violence and terrorism threatening the security and stability of Iraq." Al-Watan, in Qatar, said the formation of the new cabinet represents an "important phase in the political process." It said the government now faces extremely important challenges of battling corruption and of eliminating the "electoral injustice" suffered by Sunni Arabs.  (Hürriyetim)