Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi named Nizar Salem al-Numan as a candidate for the key post of oil minister on Thursday as part of a cabinet reshuffle aimed at fighting corruption, state television said

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi named Nizar Salem al-Numan as a candidate for the key post of oil minister on Thursday as part of a cabinet reshuffle aimed at fighting corruption, state television said citing its correspondent.

Abadi also named prominent politician Ali Allawi for the post of finance minister and tagged Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein, for foreign minister, state TV added.

Abadi presented his new cabinet lineup to parliament as part of a drive to form a technocrat government in the face of resistance from politicians who fear their entrenched interests could be hurt.

Abadi merged several portfolios and presented a list of 16 ministers while keeping the current defense and interior ministers, state television said earlier.

The established political parties fear a reshuffle could weaken patronage networks that have sustained their wealth and influence for more than a decade.

But Abadi has to deliver on long-promised anti-corruption measures or risk weakening his government as Iraqi forces gear up to try and recapture the northern city of Mosul from IS.

Senior Iraqi cleric and prominent political figure, Sayyed Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his supporters to lift the sit-in that they had started near parliament on Sunday to demand the political reforms.