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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will list the members of the Iraqi governing council, indicating (a) their ethnicity, (b) their faith and (c) organisations or political parties which they represent; and if he will identify which members of the council are women. [126636] Mr. Rammell: [holding answer 17 July 2003]: The following information on the background of the members of the Governing Council was made public by the Coalition Provisional Authority on 13 July. I am withholding further details on each individual under exemption 12 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information: Iraqi Governing Council Text Issued by Coalition Provisional Authority on 13 July 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), a Professor of Mathematics and a businessman. Founder of the INC. Ahmad Shya'a al-Barak General Coordinator for the Human Rights Association of Babel. General Coordinator for the Bar Association in 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 1983 to continue his political activities against the dictatorial regime. Judge Dara Nor al Din A Judge who as a member of the Court of Appeal, held one of Saddam's edicts (confiscating land without proper compensation) unconstitutional. Was sentenced to two years in jail. Served eight months at Abu Ghraib before being released in the general amnesty last October. Dr. Raja Habib Khuzai Head of maternity hospital in Diwaniya. Studied and lived in the UK 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 re- elected 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 Zahra Othman Mohammed Head of the Islamic Da'wah Movement (Harakat al Dawa al Islamiya) in Basra. Writer, thinker and political activist. Editor of numerous newspapers and magazines. 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 six years in prison. Dr. Adnan Pachachi President of the Iraqi Independent Democrats. Former Foreign Minister and Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Dr. Akila Al Hashimi Diplomat. `She' 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. Ghazi Ajil Al-Yawar Born in Mosul. A civil engineer. Recently Vice President of Hicap Technology Co. Lyd., Riyadh. Married with 4 children. 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 centre. 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 re-elected 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. 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. Yonadam Kanna Secretary General of the Assyrian Democratic Movement. Active member of the Assyrian-Chaldean community. 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. The Governing Council includes 13 Shia; 11 Sunni; and one Christian. There are Shia, Sunni, Kurdish, Turkoman and Christian representatives. Three (12 per cent.) are women.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

126635; 409 c806-9W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Women Iraq Ethnic groups Government Membership Political parties Politics and government Religion

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk