A long time observer of Middle East politics believes Iraq's new Prime Minister has a daunting task ahead of him in trying to unite the country's religious and cultural groups behind a stable government.
The new leader is Baghdad-born engineer Doctor Haider Abadi, a Shi'ite Muslim, who has included members of Iraq's Shi'ite majority and its Kurdish and Sunni minorities in his cabinet.
Professor Amin Saikal specialises in Middle East politics at the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra.
He has told Michael Kenny, Dr Abadi will face some tough challenges in trying to forge a united government as it struggles to contain the threat posed by Islamic State militants in the country's north.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full interview)
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