Anas Altikriti (born September 9, 1968 in Iraq to a Sunni family) is President and founder of the Cordoba Foundation.[1] A leading figure in the British Anti-War movement,[2][3] Altikriti also served as president of the Muslim Association of Britain between 2004 and 2005.[4]
Altikriti holds an MSc in Translation and Interpreting.[5] He teaches translation and interpreting on part-time basis at Leeds University. He headed the Respect Yorkshire and Humberside slate for the European elections in 2004.[6]
Altikriti organised more than twenty major demonstrations including the demonstration against the Iraq war organized in London on February 15, 2003.[7] } He was also special envoy to Iraq to negotiate the release of Western hostages.[8] As a commentator in the International and Arab media (including BBC, CNN, ABC, SKY and Al-Jazeera) on Muslim and current affairs, he has appeared on HARDtalk and the Doha Debates (both with Tim Sebastian), ‘Lateline’ on Australian ABC and BBC’s Newsnight as well as a number of prominent programs on a variety of international channels.[9] Altikriti has contributed a number of articles to The Guardian, Al-Ahram Weekly and Islam Online.
In late 2005 and 2006 he made a number of trips to Iraq in efforts to release British hostage Norman Kember.,[10] who was eventually released in March 2006.