Iraq's Governing Council
On 13 July 2003, the Governing Council of Iraq was inaugurated. Its members have been appointed by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). According to the text of the authorities and responsibilities of the Council, its activities will include appointing interim ministers, working with the CPA on policy and budgets, and establishing procedures to write a new constitution.
On 30 July, the Council decided (by a vote of 20-5) that it would have a rotating presidency among 9 of its members (marked in red in the table), with each member serving as president for one month at a time. This system was later abandoned, with all members of the Council taking turns as rotating presidents.
The Governing Council decided to dissolve itself on 1 June 2004, as part of the creation of an interim government.
| Name | Religion or sect / ethnicity / sex | Institutional affiliation | Biography |
| Ibrahim al-Ja'fari (Ibrahim al-Ushayqir, nom de guerre is Abu Ahmad al-Ja'fari) | Shi'a, Arab, male | Da'wa | Latest biography here. |
| Ahmad Chalabi | Shi'a, Arab, male | Iraqi National Congress | Latest biography here. |
| Muhammad Bahr al-'Ulum | Shi'a, Arab, male | Ahl al-Bayt | b. 1927/1930?, originally from Najaf, where he was a member of the Society of Religious Scholars (Jama'at al-'Ulama'), aligned with Muhsin al-Hakim (and, briefly from 1958 until 1960, with al-Da'wa); he studied under Muhsin al-Hakim. He reportedly fled Iraq with Mahdi al-Hakim in 1969. Later moved to London, where he headed the Ahl al-Bayt Centre, again close to al-Da'wa. He was elected as the Shi'i member of the 3-person INC presidential council at the 1992 Salahuddin conference. Resigned from the presidential council in May 1995, and was at the centre of the discussion in August 1995 about forming an alternative umbrella group. Has since moved to align with al-Khu'i foundation and had a coordinating role in the opposition. Elected onto the Follow-Up Committee in December 2002, and moved back to Iraq with the overthrow of the Ba'th regime. Served as the temporary chair of the Governing Council on its inauguration, and became one of the 9 members of the rotating presidency. Suspended his membership of the Council after the bombing of al-Najaf on 30 Aug 2003. |
| 'Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim | Shi'a, Arab, male | SCIRI | Head of SCIRI since the assassination of his elder brother, Muhammad Baqr al-Hakim; interview here |
| Jalal Talabani | Sunni, Kurd, male | Patriotic Union of Kurdistan | Latest biography here. |
| Mas'ud Barzani | Sunni, Kurd, male | Kurdistan Democratic Party | b.16Aug46; official biography here |
| Iyad 'Allawi | Shi'a, Arab, male | Iraqi National Accord | Latest biography here. |
| Adnan Bajaji (Adnan Pachachi) | Sunni, Arab, male | Independent Democrats Movement | b.14May23, former Iraqi foreign minister (1966-1967) and ambassador to the UN (1959-65, 1967-68). Bajaji was based until 2003 in the UAE (Abu Dhabi), where he has acted as an advisor to Shaykh Zayyid; full profile (May03) is here. Strongly critical of US military operations in Falluja in April 2004. Returned to the UAE after the Governing Council was dissolved. |
| Muhsin 'Abd al-Hamid | Sunni, Arab, male | Iraqi Islamic Party | From Kirkuk & author of 30 books on the Qur'an. Was arrested in 1996 when he sought to reorganise the IIP. Professor in the College of Education at Baghdad Uni. |
| Ahmad Shya'a al-Barak Al Bu Sultan | Shi'a, Arab, male | Iraqi Lawyers' Union | Trained at Babil and Baghdad Universities, a leader of the Al Bu Sultan tribe. General coordinator for the Human Rights Association of Babil, and coordinator of the Iraqi Bar Association. Has worked on UN programmes in the Foreign Ministry since 1991. |
| Nasir Kamil al-Jadurji | Sunni, Arab, male | National Democratic Party | b.1933 (?), the son of Kamil al-Jadurji (the founder of the NDP). A lawyer and businessman, who had stayed in Baghdad, and who had set up an office in Mansur. |
| Aqila al-Hashimi | Shi'a, Arab, female | b.1953, Najaf. Diplomat for the Iraqi foreign ministry under both Ba'thists from the early 1980s (was a Ba'th party member, and close to Tariq Aziz) and CPA, overseeing its transition. Led the Iraqi delegation to the New York donors' conference. Holds a PhD in modern French literature (from the Sorbonne) and a BA in law (from Baghdad Uni). Shot on 20Sept03, dying on 25Sept. Replaced on IGC by Salma al-Khufaji (who was deputised by Fatih Khashif al-Ghata), who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on 27May04, an attack which killed her son. Extensive profile of Khafaji is here. | |
| Raja' Habib al-Khuza'i | Shi'a, Arab, female | Director of the maternity hospital in Diwaniyya in the 1990s; trained as a gynaecologist. Lived in the UK from late 1960s to 1977. | |
| Hamid Majid Musa | Shi'a, Arab, male | Iraqi Communist Party | Secretary-General of the ICP's Central Committee since 1993; b.1941?, from al-Hilla in Babil province, trained as an economist at the Higher Institute of Economics in Sofia, Bulgaria, and as a petroleum engineer, left Iraq in 1978, and in Iraqi Kurdistan since 1991. |
| Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawir | Sunni, Arab, male | Latest biography here. | |
| Samir Shakir Mahmud | Sunni, Arab, male | Latest biography here. | |
| Mahmud Ali Uthman | Sunni, Kurd, male | From Sulaymaniyya, b.1943(?). A KDP member who left to found the KSPI in 1975, before leaving politics. A physician by training. Has argued (28Oct03) that US forces should hand over security responsibility to Iraqis as soon as possible. | |
| Salah al-Din Muhammad Baha' al-Din | Sunni, Kurd, male | Kurdistan Islamic Union | b.Halabja, 1950 (?) was elected Sec-Gen at the 1st KIU general conference in 1994. |
| Younadem Yusif Kana | Assyrian Christian, male | Assyrian Democratic Movement | Sec-Gen of the ADM. b.1953(?), trained as an engineer (1975). Served as minister for housing and labour from the first independent KRG from 1992; later served in portfolios of industry and energy. |
| Muwafaq al-Rubiy'i | Shi'a, Arab, male | A medical doctor, originally from Mosul (b. in al-Shatra), based in the UK & practicing internal medicine and neurology. A member of the British Royal Doctors' College. A member of al-Da'wa's politburo until the 1990s. Has authored a book on the Iraqi Shi'a. Appointed to the newly created post of national security advisor on 9 April 2004, resigning his position on the IGC. | |
| Dara Nur al-Zin | Sunni, Kurd, male | b.1953(?), from Kirkuk. A judge in the Court of Appeal, who ruled that the confiscation of land without compensation, according to a Presidential edict, was unconstitutional. Served eight months (of a 3 year sentence) in Abu Ghrayb prison for this, released in the amnesty of Oct 02. Associated with Islamists. | |
| Songhul Chapouk | Turkoman, female | Iraqi Women's Organization | b.1968(?). Trained as a civil engineer and a teacher, from Kirkuk. Heads the Kirkuk-based Iraqi Women's Organisation. Has been a critic of decision-making within the GC, publicly disagreeing with the system of the rotating presidency; reportedly also highly critical of US military operations in Falluja in Apr04. |
| Wa'il 'Abd al-Latif | Shi'a, Arab, male | b.1953(?). Trained as a lawyer. Has served as a judge from the early 1980s: head judge at Nasiriya, deputy head judge in Basra until appointed governor of Basra on 4Jul03. | |
| 'Abd al-Karim Mahmud al-Muhammadawi | Shi'a, Arab, male | Hizbullah | The "lord of the marshes" (with the nom de guerre of Abu Hatim): led resistance to Ba'th regime from the southern marsh region for 17 years. Imprisoned for 6 years. Member and Rotating Chairman of Interim Supervisory Council in Maysan Province. Based in 'Amara. Announced his suspension of his membership of the Governing Council during the assault on the Sadriyyun in Apr04. |
|
Abd al-Zahra Uthman Muhammad ('Izz al-Din Salim) |
Shi'a, Arab, male | Islamic Da'wa of Basra | Based in Basra; a writer and journal editor. Died in a bomb explosion at the entrance to the CPA headquarters on 17 May 2004. Full profile here. |
Thirteen members of the Council are Shi'a (of whom 5 or 6 are Islamists), five are Kurdish (of whom 1 or 2 are Islamists), five are Sunni Arabs (of whom at least one is an Islamist), one is Christian and one is Turkoman. Twenty-two are male, three are female. At least 9 of the 18 Arab members of the Council have not been based in south-centre Iraq in the period since 1991. At least 8 of the 9 members of the rotating presidency were not based in south-centre Iraq over the 1991-2003 period.
Sources in addition to those linked above: al-Mustaqbal; AP / New York Times "thumbnail sketches"; Juan Cole's writings; various articles (especially AP, Reuters, LA Times and Financial Times) of 31 July 2003; the Coalition Provisional Authority.
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