Fresh mortar attacks and the discovery of six bodies in Baghdad today highlighted the security challenge still facing Iraqi leaders after they broke months of political deadlock to appoint a new prime minister.
Jawad al-Maliki, chosen yesterday, has a month to form a cabinet sharing power among Shias, Sunni Arabs and Kurds and his choices for key posts, such as interior minister, are seen as critical to uniting Iraqis and winning their trust.
"Overcoming this impasse of forming the government doesn't mean solving all the political crises in Iraq," Saleem al-Jubouri, a professor at Baquba's Diyala University, said today.
"Maliki has tough issues to deal with - occupation, regional intervention, armed militias and illegal detention centres."
Underlining the security crisis, a mortar attack killed at least five people near the Defence Ministry on today, within earshot of the heavily fortified Green Zone, home to Maliki and other government leaders.
And police found the bodies of six young men, shot in the head, in Baghdad's Sunni district of Adhamiya where sectarian tensions sparked gun battles last week.
Many Iraqis who live outside protected areas such as the Green Zone are sceptical about their political leaders.
The formation of a government of national unity bringing together the main religious and ethic groups is widely seen as essential for heading off a civil war after spiralling sectarian violence since a Shia shrine was bombed in February.
Mr Maliki's choice of cabinet, and his own post, must still be confirmed by the 275-seat parliament.
He was asked to become prime minister and form a government by President Jalal Talabani on Saturday, ending months of bickering over key posts in a new administration.
Mr Maliki, a proven behind-the-scenes player who has helped shape postwar politics, must also rescue the oil-rich economy, which has been starved of foreign investment by the unrest.