Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq's State of Law coalition, led by Nouri Al-Maliki, has settled on Lieutenant General Mohammed al-Sultani as its candidate for interior minister, an informed source told Shafaq News on Thursday.

Othman al-Shaibani, a member of parliament for the coalition, said State of Law had sent the names of its candidates for the interior and higher education ministries to Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, ahead of a decision on the two ministers in the coming days.

Earlier, the director of the coalition’s media office, Hisham Al-Rikabi, dismissed reports that State of Law had agreed to give up the Interior Ministry portfolio.

The two ministries are among the posts left vacant when the government was formed. On May 14, Iraq's Council of Representatives approved al-Zaidi's government and its program, confirming 14 of 23 ministers. Nine portfolios were left unfilled amid disputes over names and quota shares, among them interior, defense, higher education, and planning.

Read more: State of Law names candidates for Iraq’s vacant ministries

Read more: Al-Zaidi at 100 days: Iraq's toughest tests still ahead