Sunnis Executed, Found Dead in Iraqi Garbage Dump

The low level skirmishes in the Iraqi Civil War were marked by the executions of 14 Sunnis, found dead in a garbage dump:

FOURTEEN Iraqis shot dead and left at a Baghdad garbage dump were Sunni Arabs, relatives say, raising the spectre of deeper sectarian strife in Iraq following mass killings of Shi'ites.

Relatives of the victims, witnesses and a police official said the dead were farmers from the town of Madaen just south of Baghdad...

Officials say it is unclear who killed the Iraqis, but they say insurgents are trying to spark civil war.

Sunni Arab leaders denounced the killings.

"We want the Shi'ite religious establishment to condemn this horrific act just like the Sunni religious establishment condemns the killing of innocent civilians," said Dhia al-Hadithi, spokesman for the Sunni Endowment group.

Sectarian violence may be offset by today's appointment of a Sunni defense minister:

Iraq's leaders reached a deal on contested cabinet posts on Saturday to break months of deadlock, agreeing on a Sunni Arab Defence minister to combat insurgents who have launched a blitz of bomb attacks over the past week.
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Sources in the two strongest blocs in parliament, the Shia-led United Iraqi Alliance and the powerful Kurdish coalition, said on Saturday agreement had been reached on filling the vacant ministries, including Defence and oil.

They said Saadoun al-Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab, would be the new Defence minister while Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, a Shia, would run the Oil Ministry.

I hope the appointment of a Sunni to this high level cabinet post defuses tensions, but I don't think that's a very realistic hope at this point.