A look at Iraq's top leaders

[carlablum]

A snapshot of the top leaders of Iraq's incoming government

Dec 20, 1:42 PM EST

-Prime Minister: Nouri al-Maliki, Shiite, the current premier.

Al-Maliki, 60, was first installed as prime minister as a compromise candidate in 2006 but barely hung onto the job this year when his political coalition fell short of winning the most seats in national elections. He is from a village near the Shiite city of Hillah south of Baghdad.

-President: Jalal Talabani, Kurd, also currently in office.

With his trademark grin and walrus mustache, Talabani, 77, has positioned himself as a father figure for Iraq. Despite holding a largely ceremonial post, he has flexed political muscle on some issues. He is viewed with suspicion by some Iraqis who believe the president should be an Arab.

-Parliament Speaker: Osama al-Nujaifi, Sunni.

Al-Nujaifi and his brother, Ninevah Gov. Atheel al-Nujaifi, are two of the most powerful Sunni Arabs in Iraq's north and have taken hardline positions against Kurdish power in Mosul. The 54-year-old speaker was born in Mosul and has a degree in electric engineering.

-Deputy prime minister: Saleh al-Mutlaq, Sunni.

The contentious anti-Iran Sunni lawmaker was banned from running in 2010 elections because of alleged ties with Saddam Hussein's disbanded Baath party, but allowed this week to resume his political life under a government power-sharing agreement. He was born in Fallujah in 1947.

-Deputy Prime Minister: Hussain al-Shahristani, Shiite.

The current oil minister will oversee Iraq's lucrative energy industry in his new post. Al-Shahristani was imprisoned for years during Saddam Hussein's regime. He opposed oil deals signed by Kurdistan government. He was born in 1942 in Karbala and studied in Britain, Russia and Canada.

-Foreign Minister: Hoshyar Zebari, Kurd, currently in the same post.

Articulate and accessible to reporters, Zebari, 64, has worked with American officials for years, going back to when he was the foreign spokesman for the Kurdistan Democratic Party. He speaks fluent English. He was born in the northern Kurdish town of Aqra, near Mosul.

-National Council for Strategic Policies Chairman: Ayad Allawi, Shiite.

The Shiite former prime minister's alliance won the most seats in the March election with strong Sunni support. Born in Baghdad in 1946, Allawi abandoned the Baath party in 1975 and escaped an assassination attempt by Saddam agents in 1978 while he was in London.

-Finance minister: Rafia al-Issawi, Sunni.

He is currently serving as a deputy prime minister. He was a fierce critic of U.S. troop activity during the first major battle of Fallujah in 2004 when he was serving as director of the city's hospital, claiming more than 600 people - half of them women and children - were killed in the fighting

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_IRAQ_GLANCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[TC987]

Great Post - Thanks

[Optimus Prime]

I like it!! Go RV!!