Ibrahim al-Jaafari

Infobox Prime Minister
name = Ibrahim al-Ashaiqir al-Jaafari
إبراهيم الأشيقر الجعفري


imagesize = 197
birth_date = birth date and age|1947|03|25|mf=y
birth_place =
office = 1st State Prime Minister of Iraq
term_start = April 7, 2005
term_end = May 20, 2006
president = Jalal Talabani
predecessor = Iyad Allawi
successor = Nouri al-Maliki
office2 = 2nd Vice President of Iraq
Sharing office with Rowsch Shaways
term_start2 = June 1, 2004
term_end2 = April 7, 2005
president2 = Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer
predecessor2 = Taha Yassin Ramadan
successor2 = Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer and Ghazi al-Yawar
religion = Shi'a Islam
party = Islamic Dawa Party

Ibrahim abd al-Karim Hamzah al-Ashaiqir al-Jaafari ( _ar. إبراهيم الأشيقر الجعفري; born 1947) is an Iraqi politician who was Prime Minister of Iraq in the Iraqi Transitional Government from 2005 to 2006, following the January 2005 election. A Shiite, he was previously one of the two Vice-Presidents of Iraq under the Iraqi Interim Government from 2004 to 2005, and he was the main spokesman for the Islamic Dawa Party. He was forced to withdraw his nomination for premiership for the permanent government because of accusations of weak leadership from United States President George W. Bush.

Early life

He was born Ibrahim al-Eshaiker ( _ar. إبراهيم الأشيقر) in Karbala. He is a sayyid (descendant of Muhammad) and his great grandfather, Sayyid Mahdi bin Sayyid Ali bin Sayyid Baqir al-Ushaiqir, led the al-Ushaiqir revolt in Karbala in 1876 against the Ottoman Empire. The Al-Ushaiqir family originated from the city of al-Ushaiqir in what is now Saudi Arabia. Jaafari was educated at Mosul university as a medical doctor.Nimrod Raphaeli [http://www.freemuslims.org/news/article.php?article=476 Ibrahim al-Ja'fari: Iraq's Designated Prime Minister, who is he?] . Free Muslims Coalition. 5 March, 2005.]

Member of Council of Representatives

He joined the Islamic Dawa Party in 1968. Upon graduation from school in 1974 he worked actively for the party in Iraq which was trying to overthrow the Ba'athist secular government. He left for Iran in 1980 and became involved in the movement against Saddam Hussein there as part of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq where he represented the Islamic Dawa Party. He adopted the name al-Jaafari in exile to protect his family in Iraq from retribution by Saddam. He moved to London in 1989 where he became the al-Dawa spokesman in the UK and an important participant in the wider anti-Saddam movement. While in the UK he attended many Iraqi Events giving religious sermons.

Iraq War and the fall of Saddam Hussein

He opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq but returned to Iraq soon after. [Valentinas Mite and Kathleen Ridolfo. [http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GD09Ak02.html Iraq Looks to Jaafari] . "Asia Times". 9 April, 2005.] He was picked in July 2003 as member of the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council, and served as its first chairman and Iraq's first post-Saddam interim President for one month. On 1 June 2004, he was selected to be one of the two vice-presidents in the Iraqi Interim Government.

He brought al-Dawa into the United Iraqi Alliance coalition of Shi'ite parties and was second on the party's list after SCIRI leader Abdel-Aziz Hakim.

Elections

January 2005 elections

Following the January 2005 Iraqi elections the strength of the UIA in the parliament made him a likely candidate to become the nation's new Prime Minister. Only Ahmed Chalabi challenged him for the position. Chalabi later dropped out of the race, being less than a favourite for a majority of the parties in the UIA, partly tainted by several scandals, thus leaving al-Jaafari unchallenged to become the alliance's candidate for the post. He was designated as Prime Minister on 7 April 2005, following the election of a Presidency Council the day before. [Martin Asser. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/4268143.stm Profile: Ibrahim al-Jaafari] . "BBC News". 7 April, 2005.] After a long period of negotiations aimed at establishing a broad-based government, he and his cabinet were finally approved by the National Assembly of Iraq on 28 April. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4564799.stm Iraq PM makes first foreign trip] . "BBC News". 20 May, 2005.]

December 2005 elections

In the national election of December 2005, the UIA once again won the majority of the votes, which according the new Iraqi constitution, gets to pick the Prime Minister. UIA members voted for the Prime Minister with only two main candidates. Al-Jaafari was one and the SCIRI member Adel Abdul Mahdi, a secular economist. Jaafari won the vote only by one (64 - 63). His win was credited to the support of Muqtada Al Sadr's members of UIA, who all voted for him. [Edward Wong. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/28/international/middleeast/28cnd-iraq.html?ei=5070&en=dc0a7a19a623a0f7&ex=1166245200&pagewanted=all Shiites Say U.S. Is Pressuring Iraqi Leader to Step Aside] . "The New York Times". 28 March, 2006.]

Despite this win, however, he became increasingly associated with the failure to end the violence in Iraq and to improve services. Because of this, the Sunni, Kurdish and secular groups in the parliament refused to agree to him continuing as Prime Minister, leading to deadlock. His refusal to stand down began to alienate even those who had backed him up to that point, but it is believed that only when Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani intervened that he finally stepped down. [Roger Hardy. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4932692.stm Iraq conflict thwarts PM Jaafari] . "BBC News". Friday, 21 April, 2006.] The US government had expressed dissatisfaction with him in two months earlier, with George W. Bush stating that he "doesn't want, doesn't support, doesn't accept" his retention as Prime Minister. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4855210.stm|title=US envoy 'calls for new Iraqi PM'|date=28 March 2006|publisher=BBC News|accessdate-2007-01-04]

He was succeeded by al-Maliki as Dawa Party secretary-general in May 2007. [ [http://www.juancole.com/2007/05/137-killed-by-guerrillas-us-to-talk-to.html Sawt al-Iraq, writing in Arabic] , "Informed Comment", 2007-05-14]

Personal life

Al Jaafari is married with 5 children (3 girls and 2 boys), all of whom reside in London. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1422964,00.html Profile: Ibrahim al-Jaafari] . "Associated Press". 22 February, 2005.] Al-Jaafari is known for being soft-spoken and using flowery language laced with phrases from classical Arabic and literary allusions. Tim Russert revealed that al-Jaafari's favorite current author is American professor Noam Chomsky. [ [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/31/148254 Noam Chomsky on Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy] . "Democracy Now!" 31 March, 2006.]

National Reform

In May 2008, al-Jaafari launched a new political party called National Reform. [ [http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AC7BD7FA-1C93-4FFF-B640-B9E0FDEE72B8.htm "Sadr bloc demands pact referendum"] , Al Jazeera, May 31, 2008.]

References

External links

* [http://nahrain.com/d/news/05/02/23/nhr0223e.html Ibrahim al-Eshaiker al-Jaafari] Arabic biography
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1423829,00.html The Man to Heal Iraq] "Guardian" interview in Baghdad 24 February 2005
* [http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,347678,00.html Interview with Ibrahim al-Jaafari ] "Der Spiegel" interview, 21 March 2005 (in English).
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/25/wirq25.xml Jaafari praises Blair and Bush]