BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers approved Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s remaining Cabinet nominees Saturday, including for the critical defense and interior portfolios, completing the formation of a government that will strive to push the Islamic State extremist group out of the sprawling territory it has seized in recent months.

Control over the two powerful security ministries has long been a source of tension among Iraq’s feuding political factions.

The United States and other allies have been pushing for a more representative government that can reach out to Sunnis, who felt marginalized by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Sunni discontent is widely seen as having fueled the Islamic State group’s dramatic advances in Iraq since June, when it captured the country’s second largest city, Mosul.

Khaled al-Obeidi, a Sunni lawmaker from Mosul, was selected for the post of defense minister by a vote of 175-85. He had served as an officer in Saddam Hussein’s military and holds a Ph.D. in political science.

Mohammed Salem al-Ghabban, a Shiite lawmaker with al-Abadi’s State of Law political bloc, was approved as minister of interior by a 197-63 vote. He holds degrees from universities in both Tehran and London and he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in political science in Baghdad. He was a longtime opponent of Saddam and was detained in 1979.

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