Major blocs in the Iraqi parliament have reached an agreement over all vacant portfolios in a new cabinet, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Saturday.

"All the ministries have been filled and the presidential council has approved them," Jaafari told reporters.

But he did not reveal the new ministers, only saying "the names will be given to the National Assembly on Sunday and you will hear the names then."

Among the three posts believed to be reserved for the Sunni minority, Saadoun al-Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab, is expected to be appointed as the defense minister, according to the Arabiya TV channel.

Al-Jaafari confirmed Saturday that the human rights minister would be a Sunni, but he gave no further details on other appointments.

Saadoun al-Dulaimi, a former lieutenant colonel, was the head of Iraq Bureau for Strategic Studies and Researches. He fled Iraq in 1984 and lived in exile in Saudi Arabia until Saddam's fall in April 2003. Duleimi comes from the predominantly Sunni province of Anbar in western Iraq.

Another Sunni to be appointed as the deputy prime minister is Abe Mutlaq al-Juboury, said Meshaan al-Juboury, a Sunni parliament member.

"Staff Brig. Abed Mutlaq will be the deputy premier and he is accepted by most of the parties which are still reluctant in participating in the political process," Meshaan told the al-Jazeera Arabic-language television.

Jaafari's Shiite dominant alliance and Kurdish bloc had rejected a number of Sunni nominees, accusing them of being close to the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein.

Disputes over candidate of the oil minister also came to an end as Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, son of a prominent Shiite cleric, is allowed to take the job.

The long awaited deal came 10 days after Jaafari unveiled the partial line-up of 29 ministers.

(Xinhua News Agency May 8, 2005)