BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers have approved all of the remaining positions in Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi’s government, including the critical posts of defense and interior ministers amid the country’s battle with the self-proclaimed Islamic State group.

Lawmakers on Saturday approved Mohammed Salem Al-Ghabban, a Shiite lawmaker with Al-Abadi’s State of Law political bloc, as minister of interior. Khaled Al-Obeidi, a Sunni lawmaker from the besieged city of Mosul, has been selected for the post of defense minister. Control over the two powerful security ministries has long been a source of tension among Iraq’s feuding political factions. On Sept. 16, Al-Abadi put forward Sunni lawmaker Jaber Al-Jabberi as his candidate for defense minister and Shiite lawmaker Riyad Ghareeb as his pick for interior minister, but both were rejected by parliament. — AP