| Governor Qasim Mohammad Abid Hammadi al-Fahadawi | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Anbar | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office April 2009 |
|
| Preceded by | Maamoon Sami Rasheed al-Alwani |
| Personal details | |
| Nationality | Iraq |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Religion | Sunni Islam |
Qasim Mohammad Abid Hammadi al-Fahadawi is an Iraqi politician and businessman who has been the Governor of Al Anbar province since April 2009.[1]
Al-Fahadawi was born in Ramadi, in western Iraq's Al Anbar province. He graduated from Baghdad University in 1977 with a degree in Engineering. He later studied in Germany. He left Iraq in 2006 due to the civil war and moved to the United Arab Emirates where he ran a construction company.[2]
Following the Al Anbar governorate election, 2009, the leaders of the largest two parties, Ahmed Abu Risha of the Iraq Awakening and Independents National Alliance and Dr. Saleh al-Mutlaq of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front invited him to come to Anbar as governor. He said he would only do so if he could work with all parties and that there would be no partisan political interference in his work, which they agreed. He was voted in as governor by 24-3 and formed an administration with all parties in the provincial council except the Iraqi Islamic Party which declined to join.[2]
He condemned the "widely spread culture of corruption" that had developed and said he needed to "rebuild people's damaged morals". He pledged to focus on improving the supply of electricity and build new generation plants in Haditha, Ramadi and Fallujah. He signed a contract with a Korean company to build a complex of residences, hospitals, a sports centre and government buildings in Ramadi.[1]
In August 2009, fDi Magazine named him "Middle East Personality of the Year" for his work as Governor.[3]
Al-Fahadawi was seriously injured in an assassination attempt by a suicide bomber on December 30, 2009. He had been surveying the scene of an earlier suicide attack in Ramadi when the bomber struck. At least 23 others were killed.[4] Fahadawi lost his hand in the attack and was fitted with a prosthetic replacement.[5]
As Governor, he negotiated with the Emirati oil companies, Crescent Petroleum and Dana Gas to develop the Anbar's Akkaz gas field. The companies promised to create 100,000 jobs, and Fahadawi asked Prime Minister al-Maliki to by-pass the usual Oil Ministry tendering process to award the contract to these two companies. Opponents accused him of corruption, controlling how business contracts are awarded, with the head of the US Provincial Reconstruction Team saying that "accountability and transparency were at variance" with the expectations of Anbar's leaders.[6]