A British soldier patrols a street in Basra. (AFP)

Baghdad, April 25 (Reuters): Iraqi politicians again delayed naming a government today, prolonging a three-month political vacuum seen aiding an insurgency, but a senior politician said a cabinet could come as soon as tomorrow.

Jawad al-Maliki, a top member of the main Shia alliance that won elections in January, said wrangling over appointments to key ministries had put off today?s expected announcement of a proposed cabinet.

Rebel violence has surged in recent weeks as political momentum generated by the January 30 poll has waned. Two twin car bombings killed 22 people yesterday, and more than 180 Iraqi security personnel have died in the last six weeks.

Lawmakers have said the Shia alliance has moved to form a government with the Kurds and minority Sunnis, after rejecting demands by caretaker Prime Minister Iyad Allawi that his party receive at least four cabinet ministries.

Lawmakers said over the weekend that the Shias would get the interior ministry, which handles internal security. It was unclear who would get the crucial oil and defence ministries.

If the Shias take the interior ministry, there are fears they could carry out a purge of Sunnis with experience in intelligence and security who are vital in the fight against the insurgency.

The cabinet ?was expected to be announced today, but it seems that some details about naming ministries and ministers prevented that,? Maliki, a lawmaker who has been involved in the negotiations, said after a meeting of the National Assembly.

?There is a meeting today to solve these details and people involved in the meeting are saying that tomorrow it (the government) will be announced,? he said.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and vice-president Dick Cheney have urged top Kurdish and Shia politicians to avert a political deadlock, the New York Times reported today.

The moves appeared to signal a change in Washington?s hands-off approach to Iraqi politics and are a measure of the growing concern about delays and their impact on the security situation.