Iraqi Governing Council

The Governing Council was appointed by Coalition Provisional Authority Administrator L. Paul Bremer on July 13, 2003. The United Nations Security Council in described the Council as “broadly representative” and praised its formation as “an important step towards the formation by the people of Iraq of an internationally recognized, representative government…” in Resolution 1500.

Dr Ebrahim Jafari Al Eshaiker
Main Spokesman of the Islamic Da’wah Party. Born in Karbala, educated in Mosul University as a medical doctor.

Dr Ahmad Chalabi
Head of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), mathematics professor and a businessman. Founder of the INC.

Ahmad Shya’a al-Barak

General Coordinator for the Human Rights Association of Babel; Graduate of the Law Faculty, Babel University. Graduate of the College Management and Economy, Baghdad University. One of the tribal leaders of Al Bu Sultan tribe in Babel.

Dr Ayad Allawi

Secretary General of the Iraqi National Accord. PhD in medicine. Started to oppose the dictatorial regime in the early 1970s and was in the forefront of efforts to organise opposition both within Iraq and abroad.

Dr Jalal Talabani
Jalal Talabani is Secretary General of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and a leading figure of the Iraqi democratic movement during the last 50 years.

Hamid Majeed Mousa

Secretary of the Iraqi Communist Party since 1993. Born in Babil province. An economist and petroleum researcher. Left Iraq in 1978 and returned in 1983to continue his political activities against the dictatorial regime

Judge Dara Nor al Din

A Judge who as a member of the Court of Appeals, held one of Saddam’s edicts (confiscating land without proper compensation) unconstitutional. Was sentenced to 2 years in jail. Served 8 months at Abu Ghraib before being released in the general amnesty last October.

Dr Raja Habib Khuzai

Head of maternity hospital in Diwanyia. Studied and lived in the United Kingdom from the late 1960s until 1977 when she returned to Iraq.

Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaidy

From the Al-Sumaidy clan with documented lineage from the Prophet Mohammed through Mousa Al-Khadhum. Ancestral lands located near Haditha in the Al-Anbar region. Writer, designer and entrepreneur. A prominent figure in the opposition to the Saddam regime.

Salahaddin Muhammad Bahaddin

Elected as Secretary General of the Kurdistan Islamic Union in the first conference of the party in 1994, was reelected in the second and third conferences and still holds the post. Born in Halabja. Has written several books in Kurdish and Arabic.

Songul Chapouk
From Kirkuk and from the Iraqi Turkoman Community. A trained Engineer and teacher. She heads the Iraqi Women’s Organisation (based in Kirkuk) which aims to bring together all the female communities of Iraq.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim is a religious and political leader and the current leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq. He is the brother of Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim. They both returned to Iraq after 20 years of exile and are both the sons of the late Ayatollah Sayyid Mohsin al-Hakim.

Abdul Karim Al Muhammadawi
Head of Iraqi Party of God in Al Amara. Member and Rotating Chairman of Interim Supervisory Council in Maysan Province. Dubbed “Prince of the Marshes” for leading the resistance movement against Saddam in the Southern Marshes for 17 years, for which he spent 6 years in prison.

Dr Adnan Pachachi

President of the Iraqi Independent Grouping. Former Foreign Minister and Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Ghazi Ajil Alyawar

Born in Mosul. A civil engineer. Recently Vice President of Hicap Technology Co. Lyd., Riyadh.

Dr. Mohsen Abdul Hameed

Secretary General of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP). Born in the city of Kirkuk. Author of more the 30 books in the field of interpretation of the Holy Quran. Detained in 1996 on the charge of reorganising the IIP. Professor in the College of Education in Baghdad University.

Dr Seyyid Muhammed Bahr ul-Uloom

Highly-respected Shi’a clergyman. Returned from London where he headed the Ahl al-Bayt charitable center. Elected as the Shi’a member of a leadership triumverate by the Iraqi opposition after the Gulf Conflict.

Mahmoud Othman
Independent politician and long-term leader of the Kurdish National Struggle.

Masood Barzani
President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). He rose to this position from peshmerga. He was elected President in 1979 and reelected in 1999.

Mowaffak al-Rubaie

Born in al-Shatra. Member of British Royal Doctors’ College. Consultant in internal medicine and neurology. Author of the Declaration of the Shia of Iraq. Activist in human rights. Student of the martyr Imam Baaker al-Sadr, who was murdered by Saddam.

Naseir al-Chadirchi
Leader of the National Democratic Party. Resident of Baghdad. Lawyers, businessman and farm owner.

Judge Wael Abdulatif

Born in Basra and practiced civil and criminal law before being disbarred and imprisoned by Saddam. Had been head judge at Nasiriya and now deputy head judge in Basra. Elected Governor of Basra on 4 July 2003 by the interim local council with the support of all the leading political and religious parties.

Yonnadam Kanna, Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM)

Secretary General of the Assyrian Democratic Movement. Former Minister of Public Works and Housing and Former Minister of Industry and Energy in Iraqi Kurdistan. Engineer since 1975. Activist against the dictatorial regime since 1979.

Salama al-Khufaji:  Shiite, Appointed to the Council following the assassination of Dr. Hakila Al-Hashimi on September 20th, 2003.

Diplomat. Led Iraqi delegation to New York donors’ conference. PhD in Modern Literature and Bachelors in Law. Working with UN programmes in Iraq since 1991 in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Iraqi Ministers

Ministry of Agriculture: Abdul Amir al-Abood

Ministry of Communication: Dr. Haydar al-Abadi

Ministry of Construction & Housing: Bayan Baqir Solagh (Bayan Jabur)

Ministry of Culture: Mufid Muhammad Juwad al-Jaza'iri

Ministry of Education: Dr. Ala'din Abdul Sahib Alwan

Ministry of Electricity: Dr. Aiham Alsammarae

Ministry of Environment: Abdel Rahman Sadiq Karim

Ministry of Expatriates & Immigrants: Muhammad Jasim Khdeir

Ministry of Finance: Kamel al-Keilani

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Mr. Hoshiyar Mahmud Muhammad al-Zibari

Ministry of Health: Dr. Khidr Abbas

Ministry of Higher Education: Ziad Abdel Razzaq Muhammad Aswad

Ministry of Human Rights: Abdel Basit Turki

Ministry of Industry & Minerals: Eng. Muhammad Tawfiq Rahim

Ministry of Interior: Nouri Badran

Ministry of Irrigation: Dr. Latif Rashid

Ministry of Justice: Hashim Abdel Rahman al-Shibli

Ministry of Labor & Social Affairs: Sami Azara al-Ma’jun

Ministry of Oil: Dr. Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum

Ministry of Planning: Dr. Mehdi al-Hafidh

Ministry of Public Works: Mrs. Nasreen Mustafa Sadiq Barwari

Ministry of Science & Technology: Rashad Mandan Omar,

Ministry of Trade: Dr. Ali Allawi

Ministry of Transport: Bahnam Ziya Boulous

Ministry of Youth & Sports: Ali Fa’iq al-Ghabban