BAGHDAD, 22 May 2006 — At least 20 people were killed in insurgent violence yesterday, 13 of them in a Baghdad restaurant bombing, as Iraq’s new national unity government met on its first full day in office.

Another 18 people were wounded when the blast ripped through the crowded diner in the up market Karrada district, highlighting the importance of plans set out by Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki for a special security force for the capital.

“We have a plan, we agreed on this plan even before this meeting, this plan will start with protecting Baghdad,” Maliki said. “We will form special new force to secure Baghdad.”

But the prime minister stressed that the 37-member cabinet finally approved by MPs on Saturday after more than five months of coalition talks would need to do more than resort to strong-arm tactics if it were to rein in the insurgency raging in Sunni areas.

“We have to make extraordinary efforts because we suffer from terrorism and security problems and we have administrative and financial corruption,” Maliki said.

“We cannot confront terrorism only by using force, we need other measures besides security, we need national reconciliation.

“We have a new plan of reconciliation for Iraq to restore trust.”

The government is still without ministers of defense, interior or national security because of continuing disputes over who should be appointed but Maliki said he expected the positions to be filled soon.

“I don’t think we need more than two or three days to nominate ministers of interior and defense,” he said.

US President George W. Bush said yesterday that the formation of Iraq’s new government would serve as a “devastating defeat” for Al-Qaeda and other groups.

“I fully understand that a free Iraq will be an important ally on the war on terror, will serve as a devastating defeat for the terrorists and Al-Qaeda and will serve as an example for others in the region who desire to be free,” Bush at the White House, adding that he spoke with the country’s new leaders.

The formation of the new government, after protracted wrangling between Iraq’s ethnic and religious communities that saw a sharp spike in sectarian violence, was greeted with cautious optimism in Iraq.

“What is important for Iraqis is not to have a new government, but to judge its actions on the ground,” said an editorial in the Adala newspaper of the powerful Shiite religious party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).

Ordinary Iraqis had watched on with mounting exasperation as insurgents filled the power vacuum left by the bickering politicians with a daily diet of violence.

“We don’t know about everyone in the new cabinet, but we know the prime minister has a good background and he appears strong and could well change the situation,” said Qais Ahmed, a middle aged Sunni working as a housing ministry engineer.

“We hope this government will work on getting us services, like electricity, cleaning up the city and of course improving security,” he said.