Iraq’s main Sunni political bloc ended a near year-long boycott of the Shia-led Government today in a key step towards resolving the sectarian differences that once pushed the country to the brink of civil war.

The Accordance Front agreed to return after Parliament approved six Sunni officials to fill vacant seats in the Cabinet, including the post of deputy prime minister, taken by Rafie al-Issawi.

Barham Salih, a Kurd, is the other deputy to Nouri al-Maliki, the Shia prime minister.

"Today, Parliament voted to accept our candidates ... This means the Accordance Front has officially returned to the Government," Salim al-Jubouri, a senior lawmaker in the bloc, told Reuters. "It is a real step forward for political reform."

The approved candidates, who also comprise ministers for higher education; culture; communications; foreign affairs and women's affairs, will attend the next Cabinet meeting, he added.

Iraq’s minority Sunni Arabs enjoyed disproportionate power under Saddam Hussein, also a Sunni Arab. This changed following the 2003 invasion, as the country’s majority Shia Arabs and the Kurds started to flex their political muscle.

A row over power-sharing and the release of Sunni Arab detainees prompted the Front to withdraw from the 39-member Cabinet last August.

Since then, however, an amnesty law has been passed to enable the release of prisoners, many of them Sunni Arabs. In addition, the Prime Minister has displayed a tough, non-sectarian stance on Shia militias, with crackdowns in Basra and the Baghdad slum of Sadr City winning him particular respect.

In today’s session, attended by 190 MPs out of the 275-member Parliament, four independent candidates were also approved to replace ministers from the political bloc of Moqtada al-Sadr, the influential Shia cleric.

The Sadrists walked out last year after Mr Maliki refused demands for a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. The posts they left vacant were transport; tourism; provincial affairs and civil society.

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