Jawad Bulani

Jawad al-Bulani (Arabic: جواد البولاني)(also spelled Al-Bolani; born in 1960) has served as head of the Interior Ministry and in the Council of Ministers of Iraq since Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appointed him on 8 June 2006. Bulani is a Shi'a independent member of the United Iraqi Alliance.

Bulani's family is originally from the Diwaniyah region. He grew up in Al-Amarah and graduated with a degree in either mechanical engineering or aeronautical engineering. An Air Force engineer under the government of Saddam Hussein, he left the military in 1999.

Bulani has been a member of several political parties since Coalition forces removed Hussein from power:
*The Sadrist Movement of Muqtada al-Sadr
*The Hizbollah (Iraq) party of Abdel-Karim Mahoud al-Mohammedawi - he served as his deputy when Mohammedawi was a member of the Iraqi Governing Council
*The Islamic Virtue Party, whose General Secretariat he served on
*Ahmed Chalabi's National Congress Coalition and the Iraqi Constitutional Party, which Bulani founded, were linked
*Bulani headed the Shiite Political Council that is allied to Chalabi

He was a member of the committee that drafted the Constitution of Iraq.

Bulani is seen as an independent figure with no militia ties by the U.S. and many in Iraq. However, there have been calls from some within the UIA for him to be sacked due to a lack of improvement in security. Bulani has defended himself by announcing a major security operation to be rolled out in September. He has also vowed to clean up corruption in Interior Ministry forces.

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5060686.stm Key Iraq ministers get approval] , BBC News, 8 June 2006
* [http://talismangate.blogspot.com/2005/11/dirtier-by-minute.html]
* [http://www.juancole.com/2006/06/heavy-fighting-in-ramadi-anbar-mourns.html Juan Cole on confirmation]
* [http://www.juancole.com/2006/06/backgrounds-of-new-security-ministers.html USG Open Source Center Profile]