Ibrahim al-Jaafari

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Ibrahim al-Jaafari

Ibrahim abd al-Karim Hamza al-Ashaiqir al-Jaafari (Arabic: إبراهيم الأشيقر الجعفري‎; born 1947) is the former Prime Minister of Iraq in the Iraqi Transitional Government following the January 2005 elections. He is a Shiite and was previously one of the two vice-presidents of Iraq under the Iraqi Interim Government in 2004, and the main spokesman for the Islamic Dawa Party in Iraq. He was forced to withdraw his nomination for premiership for the permanent government because of accusations of weak leadership from Kurdish and Sunni parties in Iraq.

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[edit] Early life

He was born Ibrahim al-Ashaiqir (إبراهيم الأشيقر) in Karbala. He is a sayyid (descendant of Muhammed) and his great grandfather, Sayyid Mahdi bin Sayyid Ali bin Sayyid Baqir al-Ushaiqir, led the al-Ushaiqir revolt in Karbala in 1876 against the Ottoman Empire. The Al-Ushaiqir family originated from the city of al-Ushaiqir in what is now Saudi Arabia. Jaafari was educated at Mosul university as a medical doctor.

[edit] Entry into politics

He joined the Islamic Dawa Party in 1968. Upon graduation from school in 1974 he worked actively for the party in Iraq which was trying to overthrow the Ba'athist secular government. He left for Iran in 1980 and became involved in the movement against Saddam Hussein there as part of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq where he represented the Islamic Dawa Party. He adopted the name al-Jaafari in exile to protect his family in Iraq from retribution by Saddam. He moved to London in 1989 where he became the al-Dawa spokesman in the UK and an important participant in the wider anti-Saddam movement. While in the UK he attended many Iraqi Events giving religious sermons.

[edit] Post-Saddam

He opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq but returned to Iraq soon after. He was picked in July 2003 as member of the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council, and served as its first chairman and Iraq's first post-Saddam interim President for one month. On 1 June 2004, he was selected to be one of the two vice-presidents in the Iraqi Interim Government.

He brought al-Dawa into the United Iraqi Alliance coalition of Shi'ite parties and was second on the party's list after SCIRI leader Abdel-Aziz Hakim.

[edit] January 2005 elections

Main article: Iraqi legislative election, January 2005

Following the January 2005 Iraqi elections the strength of the UIA in the parliament made him a likely candidate to become the nation's new Prime Minister. Only Ahmed Chalabi challenged him for the position. Chalabi later dropped out of the race, being less than a favourite for a majority of the parties in the UIA, partly tainted by his former relationship with the US, thus leaving al-Jaafari unchallenged to become the alliance's candidate for the post. He was designated as Prime Minister on 7 April 2005, following the election of a Presidency Council the day before. After a long period of negotiations aimed at establishing a broad-based government, he and his cabinet were finally approved by the National Assembly of Iraq on 28 April.

[edit] December 2005 elections

Main article: Iraqi legislative election, December 2005

In the national election of December 2005, the UIA once again won the majority of the votes, which according the new Iraqi constitution, gets to pick the Prime Minister. UIA members voted for the Prime Minister with only two main candidates. Al-Jaafari was one and the SCIRI member Adel Abdul Mahdi, a secular economist. Jaafari won the vote only by one (64 - 63). His win was credited to the support of Muqtada Al Sadr's members of UIA, who all voted for him.

[edit] Controversy

However he became increasingly associated with the failure to end the violence in Iraq and to improve services. Because of this the Sunni, Kurdish and secular groups in the parliament refused to agree to him continuing as Prime Minister leading to deadlock. His refusal to stand down began to alienate even those who had till then backed him but it is believed that only when Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani that he finally gave way.

[edit] Personal

Former Prime Minister al-Jaafari is known for being soft-spoken and using flowery language laced with phrases from classical Arabic and literary allusions. Tim Russert revealed that al-Jaafari's favorite current author is American professor Noam Chomsky. Ibrahim Al Jaafari is married with 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys. All of which are currently living in the UK.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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Preceded by:
Iyad Allawi
(Interim Government / interim Prime Minister)		 Prime Minister of Iraq
2005–2006		 Succeeded by:
Jawad al-Maliki
Preceded by:
Coalition Provisional Authority		 Vice President of Iraq
2004–2005		 Succeeded by:
Adil Abdul Mahdi and Ghazi al-Yawar
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