Baghdad: Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki vowed to use "maximum force against terrorism" on Sunday, as bombs killed at least 19 people in Baghdad during the first meeting of his national unity cabinet.
In a fresh reminder of the huge task Maliki faces in reining in bloodshed that has pushed Iraq to the brink of sectarian civil war, blasts hit Baghdad, including one suicide bomber who killed at least 13 people and wounded 18 in a crowded restaurant popular with police. Police and civilians were among the dead.
A day after Maliki formed a cabinet of Shi'ites, minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds to ease violence and consolidate a US- piloted transition to democracy, US President George W Bush told reporters on Sunday the new government marked a "new day for the millions of Iraqis who want to live in freedom.
"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking on "Fox News Sunday", said it was too early to make commitments on sending home some of the 130,000 US troops and said top US military commanders will meet with the Iraqi government over the next few weeks to discuss plans on the role of Iraqi and US forces.
"It is premature before we've even had this discussion with the Iraqi government to start giving firm commitments on what the draw down will look like," Rice said.
Bush, who is eager to show signs of progress in a war he launched three years ago to remove Saddam Hussein and is costing almost daily casualties to American troops, also said he had called Maliki and other Iraqi leaders to congratulate them.
Briefing reporters after the cabinet met in Baghdad, Maliki, a tough-talking Shi'ite Islamist, said his government would hold out the offer of dialogue to insurgents who lay down weapons.
He vowed to reimpose the state's monopoly on the armed forces, cracking down on militias.
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