BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) --- Iraqi lawmakers struggling to form the new cabinet are considering outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi to head the powerful Interior Ministry even though he has no seat in the new parliament, an official close to the talks said Monday.

The official said Mr. Chalabi's name has been put forward by various political groups largely because he is an independent and not affiliated with any of the country's various militias. But he said that the secular Shiite and one-time Pentagon favorite hadn't been officially broached about the post.

The possibility of Mr. Chalabi's formal nomination underscored the tenuous balance lawmakers face as they work to overcome ethnic and sectarian differences and set up a national unity government.

While Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki has said he would announce his cabinet on Tuesday, Shiite and Sunni lawmakers dismissed that date as unrealistic given the broad sectarian and ethnic interests at work between the Shiite majority, the minority Sunni Arabs and the Kurds.

In a bid to stave off possible disputes between the United Iraqi Alliance, the country's largest Shiite coalition, and the Sunni bloc, several lawmakers have said the search is under way for an independent candidate who is acceptable to all sides. This would help avert infighting between the various Shiite factions on the one hand, and Shiites and Sunnis, on the other.

Mr. Chalabi failed to win a seat in parliament in the Dec. 15 election. Although cabinet posts normally go to parliament members, Iraqis have often disregarded legal finepoints in the interest achieving a goal.

The drive for an independent nominee unaffiliated with the militias comes as the Interior Ministry, currently headed by Bayan Jabr, a Shiite, has been accused of turning a blind eye to Shiite death squads within its ranks who are targeting the Sunnis in a series of reprisal killings.

Sunni Arabs have been pushing hard for one of the so-called sovereignty ministries, of which include Interior and Defense. They have eyed some of the same posts which the United Iraqi Alliance has claimed for itself.

Many lawmakers have largely dismissed the possibility that Sunnis will secure either the Interior, Defense or Foreign Ministry portfolios given that they are in the running for one of the two deputy premierships and hold the prominent post of parliament speaker and vice president.

The Iraqi Accordance Front, a grouping of three major Sunni parties, last week said it was putting forward lawmaker Salam al-Zubaie for the post of deputy prime minister. While other Sunni Arab names have been floated, they have been quickly discounted and the only other competition has come from the Kurds, who already hold the presidency and the foreign ministry.