January 3-18

Who’s Who in
Kurdistan: A Summary
of Political Parties and
Prominent Figures of
the Kurdistan Regional
Government
2011
The New
Initiative for
Middle East
Peace
Table of Contents

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan .................................................................................................. 2

Jalal Talabani, President of Iraq .................................................................................................. 2
Qubad Talabani, KRG Representative in the US ......................................................................... 3
Barham Saleh, Prime Minister of KRG ........................................................................................ 3

Kurdistan Democratic Party ................................................................................................... 4

Nechirvan Barzani, First Prime Minister of KRG ......................................................................... 5
Masoud Barzani, President of KRG ............................................................................................. 5
Azad Berwari, Deputy Prime Minister of KRG ............................................................................ 6
Masrour Barzani, General Director of the Protection and Intelligence Agency ................................ 7
Dr. Kamal Krikuki, Speaker of Kurdistan Parliament .................................................................. 7
Hoshyar Zebari, Foreign Minister of Iraq .................................................................................... 8

Gorran Party—Movement For Change ................................................................................... 9

Nawshirwan Mustafa, Leader of Gorran Party ........................................................................... 9
Dana Ahmed Majid ................................................................................................................... 11

Islamic Party of Kurdistan .................................................................................................... 11

Ministers of the Kurdistan Regional Government ................................................................. 12

Asos Najib Abdullah, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs........................................................ 12
Raouf Rashid Abdulrahman, Minister of Justice ....................................................................... 12
Jafar Mustafa Ali, Minister of Peshmerga Affairs ..................................................................... 13
Falih Mustafa Bakir, Head of Deparment of Foreign Relations .............................................. 13
Sinan Abdulkhalq Ahmed Chalabi, Minister of Trade and Industry ......................................... 14
Safeen Mohsin Dizayee, Minister of Education ........................................................................ 15
Ashti Hawrami, Minister of Natural Resources ........................................................................ 15
Taher Abdullah Hussein Hawrami, Minister of Health ............................................................. 16
Ali Sindi, Minister of Planning ................................................................................................... 17
Karim Sinjar, Minister of the Interior ........................................................................................ 17
Bayiz Saeed Mohammed Talabani, Minister for Finance and the Economy ............................ 18

Kirkuk Provincial Council (KPC) ............................................................................................ 18

Dr. Rezgar Ali,Chairman of KPC ................................................................................................. 19

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Patriotic Union of Kurdistan

• Leaders: Jalal Talabani (President of Iraq), Dr. Barham Salih

(prime minister of the Kurdish Regional Government since
October 28, 2009)
• Date of Founding: Founded in 1975 by Jalal Talabani and
Nusherwan Mustafa
• Number of Seats in National Parliament: 53/275 as part of
Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan (with KDP)
• Number of Seats in Kurdistan parliament: 59/111 as part of
Kurdistan Alliance

Prominent Figures in the PUK

JALAL TALABANI (1933-present)

President of Iraq; Founder and Secretary General of PUK

Before founding the PUK in 1975, Jalal

Talabani began his political career in the
1950s as a founder member and leader of the
KDP's Kurdistan Students Union. Heeventually
moved up within the party ranks to become a
senior member of the KDP.

Beginning in the early 1970s, grievances arose

between Talabani and KDP leader Mustafa
Barzani, he joined a KDP splinter group, the
KDP-Political Bureau, led by his future father-
in-law and the party ideologue Ibrahim
Ahmad.

In 1966, the group formed an alliance with the

central government and took part in a military campaign against the KDP. The group was dissolved when
the KDP and the government signed a peace agreement in 1970.

In 1975 Talabani founded the PUK and began an armed campaign against the central government in
Baghdad.

Talabani was elected President of Iraq on April 6, 2005 by the Iraqi National Assembly and sworn in to
office the following day. On April 22, 2006, Talabani began his second term as President of Iraq,
becoming the first President elected under the country's new Constitution.

Recent interview with Jalal Talabani: http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=3&id=22495

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QUBAD TALABANI (1977-present)
KRG Representative to the US; PUK Representative in Washington; son of Jalal Talabani

Qubad grew up in London with his maternal grandparents and

studied engineering at Kingston University. He would return
to Kurdistan in the summers in the 1990s once there was a
government that needed to be run.

From 2001 - 2003, Qubad worked as a special assistant to

Barham Salih, at that time the Representative of the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan in Washington D.C., and later as the
Deputy PUK Representative. In 2003, he returned to Kurdistan
for one year and served as the PUK's Senior Foreign Relations
officer to the coalition forces and the Coalition Provisional
Authority. He also acted as a liaison officer between the PUK
and U.S. military forces in Iraq. He was a leading negotiator in
the drafting of the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), the
first Iraqi constitution since the overthrow of Saddam
Hussein.

In April 2004, Qubad returned to the US, and was stationed as

the Representative of the PUK and the KRG.

In 2006, with the unification of the two administrations in Kurdistan and following the forming of the
Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan and the establishment of the Kurdish National Assembly.
Qubad was subsequently appointed as the first representative of the KRG.

Follow Qubad on Twitter! http://twitter.com/qubadjt

And read his blog, too: http://qubadsblog.com/tag/qubad-talabani/

BARHAM SALEH (1960-present)

Prime Minister of KRG

He joined the PUK in late 1976 where he became a member of the

PUK department of Europe, and in charge of PUK foreign relations in
London.

He was elected member of the PUK leadership at the first conference

of the party when Iraqi Kurdistan was liberated from the Ba'ath Party
following the first Gulf War, and was assigned the task of heading the
PUK Office in the US.

After the fall of the Baathist regime, he became Deputy Prime

Minister in the Interim Iraqi Government in mid-2004, Minister of
Planning in the Transitional Government in 2005, and Deputy Prime
Minister in the elected Iraqi Government, in which he became in

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charge of the economic portfolio and Head of the Economic Committee. Representing the Iraqi
Government, he launched the International Compact with Iraq – an initiative of mutual commitment
between Iraq and the international community to help Iraq in meeting its obligations of “building a
prosperous, democratic and federal country, in peace with itself and with the region and the world”.

He headed the Kurdistani List in the Iraqi Kurdistan legislative election, 2009 where his list won 59 of the
111 seats in the Parliament. He succeeded Nechervan Barzani as the Prime Minister of the KRG.

Interview with Saleh: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/beyond/interviews/saleh.html

Saleh on The Colbert Report (Pat this is for you): http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-
videos/229954/june-10-2009/better-know-a-cradle-of-civilization---barham-saleh

Kurdistan Democratic Party

•Leader: Masoud Barzani (President of the Kurdistan

Region)
• Date of Founding: Founded in 1946 by Mullah Mustafa
al-Barzani, Massoud’s father.
• Number of Seats in National Parliament: 53/275 as part
of the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan (with PUK)
• Number of Seats in Kurdistan parliament: 59/111 as part
of the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan

The Kurdish Democratic Party is currently considered the

most powerful and influential political entity in Iraqi
Kurdistan. For years, the KDP was pitted against the PUK in
a protracted power struggle, a struggle characterized by
occasional violence and the expulsion of PUK members
from Erbil and KDP members from Suleimaniyah, their
respective strongholds. A cease-fire was reached in 1997, and the Kurdish region was effectively divided
into PUK-controlled and KDP-controlled areas, with the PUK holding control mostly around Suleimaniyah
and near the Iranian border.

KDP Website: http://www.kdp.se/?do=what

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Prominent Figures in the KDP

NECHIRVAN BARZANI (1966-present)

First Prime Minister of KRG; Nephew of Masoud Barzani

In 1975 Nechirvan and his family, along with tens

of thousands of Kurds from Iraq, were forced to
flee to safety from the regime of Saddam
Hussein. While in Iran, he studied political
science at Tehran University but left his studies
due to the untimely death of his father. He
became actively involved in political affairs and
rose rapidly through the ranks of the KDP.

He was first elected to the leadership of the KDP

at its 10th Congress in 1989 and re-elected at its
latest 12th Congress in 1999. In 1996 he was
appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the
Kurdistan Regional Government, which had been
established following free and fair regional elections in 1992.

He is fluent in Kurdish, Persian, and English, and has a working knowledge of Arabic.

MASOUD BARZANI (1946-present)

President of KRG

Masoud Barzani was elected President of the KRG by the

Kurdistan National Assembly in June 2005.

He was born on the day that the Kurdistan Democratic

Party (KDP) was founded, 16 August 1946. In his words, "I
was born in the shadow of the Kurdistan flag in Mahabad
(Iran) and I am ready to serve and die for that same flag."

At the time of his birth, President Barzani’s father, the late

Mustafa Barzani, was head of the military of the short-lived
Kurdish Republic of Mahabad that was declared in
Kurdistan in Iran. When the Republic fell, Mustafa Barzani
fled to the USSR with five hundred devoted followers.
When he returned to Iraq 12 years later, he, the rest of his
family and thousands of members of the Barzani clan were promptly deported to the southern parts of
the country.

At the age of 16, Masoud Barzani sacrificed his education and joined the Peshmerga forces. It was not
long before the KDP leadership noticed the younger Barzani’s qualities, and he, together with his late,
elder brother Idris, took part in the delegation that signed an autonomy agreement with Baghdad in

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March 1970.

After the death of Mustafa Barzani in March 1979, Masoud was elected as the new president of the KDP
at the party’s 9th congress. Since then he has been re-elected as the KDP’s President in each successive
congress.

Although Masoud Barzani did not have the opportunity to complete his education, his interest in reading
and studying political and military affairs has helped him to keep abreast of international developments.
He speaks Kurdish, Arabic and Persian and has an understanding of English.

AZAD BERWARI (1946-present)

Deputy Prime Minister

Azad Berwari was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the

Kurdistan Region in October 2009, following the July 2009
Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections.

He was born on 16 August 1946 in Mahabad, in the

Kurdistan Province of the Islamic Republic of Iran. His
father and family members were Peshmerga soldiers of
the Barzan Revolution, and participated with the
legendary Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani in supporting
the short-lived Kurdistan Democratic Republic of
Mahabad. After his family’s return to Iraqi Kurdistan, and
as a youth, he became a Kurdish rights activist. He was
imprisoned for three months in 1963 by the Iraqi regime
for his candour regarding the rights of the Kurdish people
in Iraq. He joined the KDP in 1964.

Immediately after graduation from the University of Basra

Mr Barwari became a Peshmerga. In 1970 he joined the Kurdistan Student Union Secretariat.

After the collapse of the Kurdish movement in 1975 he became a refugee in Iran and worked closely
with the leader of the KDP, the late Idris Mustafa Barzani, to reorganise the revolution in exile and
support refugees who had fled the oppression of the Iraqi Ba’ath Regime. In 1979 he was elected to the
KDP’s Central Committee and became Head of the Party’s third and fifth branches.

Mr Barwari was seriously injured during the Iraqi Regime’s attempted assassination of President
Masoud Barzani in Vienna, Austria, in 1979. In 1982 he became Head of the KDP and Kurdistan Front’s
Relations Bureau in Syria. During the KDP’s 11th Conference in 1993, he was elected to the KDP’s
politburo and assumed senior responsibilities within the party including the KDP’s national and regional
relations. He enjoys good relations with other political parties and local communities in the Kurdistan
Region, earning respect for his practical views towards the issues of the day. In 1996 he became the
Secretary of the KDP politburo.

At the KDP’s 12th Conference in 1999, he was re-elected to the politburo, and from 2001 until 2004 he
served as head of KDP’s Central Media Bureau.

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He speaks Arabic and Persian fluently and is conversant in English and German.

MASROUR BARZANI (1969-present)

General Director of the Protection and Intelligence Agency; Son of Masoud Barzani

Masrour joined the Peshmerga in 1985 at the age of 16. As such,

he was an active participant in the infamous Battle of Khwakurk
against Saddam’s army in 1988. He also participated in the 1991
uprising against Saddam Hussein after the first Gulf War and
filmed both events.

Barzani completed his high school education in Iran and

continued on to receive a bachelor’s degree with honors in
International Studies from the American University. During his
time in Washington, Barzani was actively involved in improving
understanding of the Kurdish plight in America.

In 1998, he returned to Kurdistan and was elected by the KDP's

12th Congress to the Central Committee. Later that same year he
became part of the KDP Leadership before receiving his current
appointment as the General Director of the Protection and
Intelligence Agency (1999).

The Kurdistan intelligence service’s major responsibilities include counter-terrorism, counter-espionage,

protection of the citizenry, and combating illegal drug trafficking. As part of his on-going commitment to
standardize and professionalize intelligence capabilities in Kurdistan, Mr. Barzani has also instituted
numerous community outreach programs designed to increase
the transparency, responsiveness, and fairness of this organization and has worked to improve
coordination between security agencies operating in the region.

He is fluent in Kurdish, Farsi, and English, in addition to understanding Arabic.

DR. KAMAL KIRKUKI

Speaker of Kurdistan Parliament

Born in Kirkuk in 1954, he was a member of the high

school students’ union and soon after joined the
KDP. He was imprisoned in Baghdad for six months
at the age of 18 for his political activities.

He worked for the KDP in Haji Umran (1972) and

entered medical school before he abandoned his
studies to return to the Kurdish national movement
(1973). After the 1975 Algiers Accord between Iraq
and Iran and the collapse of the Kurdish resistance,
he was involved in the reorganization of the

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resistance and was in charge of Peshmerga affairs in Erbil, Suleimaniah and Kirkuk. He was twice
seriously injured (1976 and 1979).

Dr Kirkuki was later head of the KDP’s 1st Branch in Dohuk (1989) and Deputy Minister for Humanitarian
Affairs in the KRG (1992-1993). In 1992 he was in the electoral commission for the Bahdinan area during
the first parliamentary elections.

He has also represented the KDP in France (1996-1998), the US and Canada (1998-2000), and the UK
(2001-2002).

He was involved in the planning for the liberation of Kirkuk with the coalition in 2002-2003, and was a
member of the first and second Kirkuk provincial councils (2003-2004). From 2005 to 2009, he was
Deputy Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament (previously called the Kurdistan National Assembly up to
2009) and became Speaker following parliamentary elections in July 2009.

Talabani’s views on Kirkuki: http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurds/3361.html

HOSHYAR ZEBARI
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq; Acting Minister of Women’s Affairs

Zebari was the foreign spokesperson for the KDP in the 1990s
and represented the party to both the UK and the US. During
the Kurds’ struggle in the 1990s, he was essential in using the
media to broadcast the happenings in northern Iraq.

He was appointed Foreign Minister of Iraq in 2003 by the Iraqi

Governing Council and held the post for the Iraqi Interim
Government, Iraqi Transitional Government and the first
permanent government.

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Gorran Party—Movement For Change

• Leader: Nusherwan Mustafa (previous PUK leader)

• Date of Founding: Began in 2006 as a media
company called Wusha. Officially became a political
party in February 2009 in order to compete in the
August 2009 elections for the Kurdish regional
parliament
• Number of Seats in National Parliament:
None; party formed in 2009
• Number of Seats in Kurdistan parliament:
25/111

In 2006, Nechirvan Mustafa, one of the founders of

the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, left the party
alleging that it had become incorrigibly corrupt—to start his own media company, Wusha. The company
has a newspaper, a television station, and a website, all of which claim to speak for the causes of
freedom and democracy.

In early 2009, in the absence of reform within the PUK, Mustafa formed Gorran, or the Movement for
Change, to challenge the two ruling parties. It won 25 of 111 seats, a remarkable achievement for a
party that had only been in existence for a few months, and created space—for the first time—for a
viable opposition within the KRG.

While Gorran is expected to run alone in the upcoming parliamentary elections, it is expected to pool its
gains with those of the Kurdistan alliance afterwards, in an effort to unite Kurds on the national stage.
Nevertheless, Gorran wants to be viewed as an independent force, opposed to corruption and the
continuing tribal stranglehold on Kurdish politics. For that reason, it has chosen to remain in the
opposition rather than joining the KRG government.

Prominent Figures in the Gorran Party

NAWSHIRWAN MUSTAFA (1944-present)

Co-founder of PUK; Head of Gorran Party

Mustafa is the co-founder and until December 2006 the

deputy secretary general of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
(PUK), one of the two leading political parties in South
Kurdistan and Iraq in general, and currently head's the main
opposition power in Kurdistan, Change List (Gorran).

Mustafa was in his final year of studies at Vienna University

when the Barzani rebellion collapsed, after talks with Jalal

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Talabani, they decided that a new Kurdish movement needed to be organized to fill the vacuum. The
result was the foundation of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, an umbrella organization. At the meeting
it was announced that Jalal Talabani would become the Secretary General and Nawshirwan the deputy
Secretary General. In an understanding between the two leaders it was decided that Nawshirwan would
lead and organize the movement in Kurdistan while Talabani would publicize and champion the cause.
Between 1976 and 1992 , Nawshirwan was the PUKs chief strategist as well as its Chief negotiator.
Alongside his political role, Nawshirwan was the Commander in Chief of all Peshmerga forces under the
control of the PUK.

Nawshirwan, after 1992, took a backseat role in Kurdish politics and returned to writing though he still
wielded so much influence that he "could ignite Kirkuk with a single telephone call.” After the 1998
peace accord, Nawshirwan remained resident in Kurdistan and gradually began to return to public
political life and resume full official duties of the deputy secretary general. However due to differences
between Nawshirwan and Talabani over the management of the PUK he left public political life in 2006
to setup a media organisation.

Nawshirwan welcomed the US led coalition which toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime, seeing it as an
opportunity to redraw the role of Kurds in Iraq. As soon as the old regime had been removed, he
ordered the establishment of a PUK office in Baghdad. He assumed the role of chief Kurdish negotiator
on Transitional Administrative Law which was established under the governing council and the CPA. He
designed Article 58 which addressed the issue of normalizing Arabised areas of Kurdistan and
threatened that if this article was not included, Kurds would no longer be a part of Iraq. Although this
demand was met, he returned to Kurdistan stating the Kurds had seceded on too many of their initial
demands and had not been given their fair share.

Nawshirwan returned again as the Chief Kurdish negotiator during the drafting of the permanent
constitution and to insure the inclusion of Article 140.

Nawshirwan Mustafa headed the Gorran list that won 25 seats of the Kurdistan parliament's 100 seats.
Nawshirwan was the head of the main opposition list, Change List, in the Iraqi Kurdistan legislative
election, 2006. The Change List is a broad coalition which consists of independents, members of the PUK
and KDP, and elements from many established parties in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Change List won the
support of more than 51% of the As Sulaymaniyah Governorate voters. The Change list participated in
the Iraqi parliamentary election, 2010 but failed to win a seat outside of As Sulaymaniyah Governorate.

DANA AHMED MAJID (1957-present)

Spokesperson for Gorran Party

Mr. Majid was the Governor of Sulaymaniah and

former head of Asayesh security forces of Iraq
Kurdistan. He currently serves as the spokesman
of the Change List (Gorran) while also serving on
the Leadership Council of the Change List.

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Islamic Union of Kurdistan

 Leader: Salaheddin Bahaeddin

 Date of Founding: 1994
 Number of Seats in National Parliament: 5/275
 Number of Seats in Kurdistan parliament: 13/111 as part of a
coalition of smaller parties which has now dissolved

The Islamic Union of Kurdistan defines itself as an “Islamic Reference”

party and has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

In the run-up to the December 2005 elections, the IUK joined the
Democratic Patriotic Alliance, then broke off and ran independently,
winning five seats. It thus became the only Kurdish opposition party to be
represented in the parliament. The party has announced that it will
compete independently in the January 2010 elections.

Islamic Party of Kurdistan

Leader: Muhammad Salih Mustafa

Founded: 1979

Other prominent names of the organization include Hamit

Turgut (deceased), Osman Caner and Sukuti Evcim. The
organization which is targeting mainly Turkey is active in
Iraq, USA and Europe.
The organization is not listed among the 12 active terrorist
organization in Turkey as of 2007 according to Counter-
Terrorism and Operations Department of Directorate
General for Security (Turkish police).
The Kurdish Islamic Party’s main target is to establish an
Islamic government. The members of the organisation see
this target as a holy mission. The first activities of the
organization were community meetings as Islamic ideological and nationalistic propaganda. However, to
establish the Islamic state, the members began to be armed. Their strategy is, through creating a chaotic
condition in Turkey, to destabilize the governmental institutions and to start a nation-wide revolt.

The 22 point statute of the Islamic Party of Kurdistan states that the organization is a part of the
international Islamic movement established in order to defend and advance the rights of the Kurdish
people and make Kurdistan an Islamic land by finally establishing an Islamic Government of Kurdistan.
The statute emphasizes values such as family, equality of men and women, liberty, justice and science
(ilim in Turkish), however all in a fundamentalist manner.

Islamic Party of Kurdistan co-operates with other organizations that share similar aims. In 1999 it formed
the National Platform of North Kurdistan along with the Socialist Party of Kurdistan, the Communist

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Party of Kurdistan, the Liberation Party of Kurdistan, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).The Platform issued a statement titled "Urgent Demands For A Peaceful
Solution To The Kurdish Problem" on the 10th of January 1999. According to a bill of indictment
prepared by Diyarbakır Chief Attorney of Republic in Turkey PKK is currently co-operating with the
Islamic Party of Kurdistan among other organisations in order to use religion to re-gain influence in
southeastern Turkey.

Ministers of the Kurdistan Regional Government

ASOS NAJIB ABDULLAH

Minister of Labor and Social Affairs

Ms Asos Najib Abdullah was appointed Minister of Labour

and Social Affairs in the sixth KRG cabinet in October 2009,
following the July 2009 Kurdistan Region parliamentary
elections.

Previously Ms Abdullah was a judge and a member of the

public prosecution in the Court of Suleimaniah.

Born in Duzkhurmatu in 1974, she graduated in 1995 as one

of the top students in her class from Salahaddin University’s
College of Law. She also has a Master’s degree in public law.
In 1995 she worked in the organisational offices of the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and has participated in the women in leadership conference.

Ms. Abdullah introduces shelters for threatened women:

http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2010/11/state4369.htm

RAOUF RASHID ABDULRAHMAN

Minister of Justice

Mr. Raouf Rashid Abdulrahman was

appointed as Minister for Justice in the
sixth KRG cabinet in October 2009,
following the July 2009 Kurdistan
Region parliamentary elections.

Born in Halabja in 1947, Mr.

Abdulrahman gained a Bachelor’s
Degree in Law from Baghdad University
in 1963, and in 1970 he became an
alternate member of the Iraqi Bar
Association. From 1984 to 1991 he was
a trainer in Suleimaniah's Law

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Chambers, and in 1997 was appointed as a judge in the Court of Erbil.

In 2004 Mr. Abdulrahman was mandated as a member of the Criminal Court in the Iraqi High Tribunal in
Baghdad, which was established to prosecute the leaders of the Ba'ath Regime. He was the Chief Judge
of the Criminal Court and served on the bench in the cases of the killings at Dujail, the killings of
merchants, members of the Barzani tribe, the Faily Kurds, and political opponents.

Mr. Abdulrahman co-founded the Human Rights Organisation in Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Bar
Association, and the Halabja Rehabilitation Group.

JAFAR MUSTAFA ALI

Minister of Peshmerga Affairs

Mr Jafar Mustafa Ali was appointed Minister of State

for Peshmerga Affairs in May 2006, and reappointed in
the six cabinet on 28 October 2009 following the July
2009 Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections.

Born in 1950 in Qaradagh, Suleimaniah Governorate,

Mr Ali joined the Peshmerga in 1969 in the Kurdish
liberation movement. Upon the Algiers Agreement
between Iran and Iraq and the collapse of the Kurdish
autonomy agreement with Baghdad, in 1975 he joined
the Peshmerga resistance in Kurdistan’s mountains.

In 1997, Mr Ali was appointed Deputy Minister of Peshmerga Affairs in the KRG’s Suleimaniah
Administration, and in 2004 he was elected to the Kurdistan Parliament. On the unification of the two
KRG administrations, he was appointed as Minister for Peshmerga Affairs in 2006.

FALIH MUSTAFA BAKIR

Head of the Department of Foreign Relations

Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir leads the Kurdistan

Regional Government Department of Foreign Relations.
He is the chief architect of KRG foreign policy, and the
Department serves as the conduit between the KRG
and the international community.

Mr. Bakir served as the Head of the Department of

Foreign Relations in the fifth Cabinet and was asked to
continue in this position in the sixth Cabinet. Mr. Bakir
became the Head of the Department, with ministerial
rank, in September 2006. From 2003 to 2006, he
served as Senior Adviser and Minister of State for
former KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani.

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Forging and enhancing relations with international institutions and foreign governments is Mr Bakir’s
prime focus. His understanding of and integral role with the international community has led to ongoing
responsibilities that include:

 boosting cultural, commercial, political and social links between the Kurdistan Region and
foreign governments, institutions, and international organizations; receiving foreign delegations
to the Kurdistan Region
 working with foreign representatives posted in the Kurdistan Region
 directing the activities of the KRG representative offices overseas
 liaising with the international and local media

The Department of Foreign Relations is headquartered in Erbil and is the focal point for international
activity in the Kurdistan Region, in coordination with Iraq’s federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Previously, Mr. Bakir served as KRG Deputy Minister of Agriculture & Irrigation (1999-2003) and Public
Relations Officer of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (1996-1999).

In addition, Mr. Bakir was the KRG’s liaison officer to the Coalition Provisional Authority. He has also
served as liaison officer to the Multi-National Forces Korean Contingent stationed in Erbil.

Mr. Bakir completed undergraduate studies in English language and literature at the University of Mosul
in 1986. He earned a Master’s Degree in development studies in 1995 at the University of Bath in the
United Kingdom, and completed the executive programme for senior managers in government at
Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in 2001.

Fluent in Kurdish, English and Arabic, Mr. Bakir is a well-received lecturer and has been asked to deliver
speeches to leading universities and think tanks, particularly in the United States. He presents lectures
and has written articles in all three languages, and serves as a primary point of contact in the Kurdistan
Region for Western, Kurdish, and Arabic media outlets. He has been a guest lecturer at the University of
Salahaddin's College of Education in Erbil and works regularly with English language and literature
students.

SINAN ABDULKHALQ AHMED CHALABI

Minister of Trade and Industry

Mr Sinan Chalabi was appointed Minister of Trade and

Industry in the sixth KRG cabinet in October 2009,
following the July 2009 Kurdistan Region parliamentary
elections.

Born in Erbil in 1944, Mr Chalabi gained a Bachelors

degree in Architectural Engineering in 1972. He also has a
Masters degree in Architectural Engineering from the
Middle East University in Ankara, Turkey.

Mr Chalabi founded the Iraqi Engineering Consultancy

Bureau in Baghdad, and worked as an engineer, architect

14
and contractor in Erbil. In 1993 he was appointed as Leader of the Turkoman Front. Previously he was
the Deputy Chairman of the Ihsan Dogramachi Charitable Foundation.

SAFEEN MOHSIN DIZAYEE

Minister of Education

Mr. Dizayee was appointed to the cabinet in October 2009,

following the July 2009 Kurdistan Region parliamentary
elections.

Before his current appointment, Mr Dizayee was Head of the

Kurdistan Democratic Party's Public Relations Office. Born in
Erbil in 1963, his family was exiled to the UK when he was in
secondary school. He graduated in Interior Design from the
Arts and Design College in Maidenhead. From 1980 to 1989 he
was a member of the Kurdish Students Union in Europe, later
joining its public secretariat, and becoming the Head of its UK
branch. From 1986 to 1992, he worked in the private sector in
real estate and housing.

From 1992 to 2003 Mr Dizayee served as the Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) Representative in
Turkey, based in Ankara. In 1999 he became a member of the KDP's Central Committee. He worked in
the Iraqi Governing Council in Baghdad under the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) from 2003 to
2004, and was then appointed as the Head of the KDP's Public Relations office.

ASHTI HAWRAMI
Minister of Natural Resources

Dr Ashti Hawrami was appointed Minister for Natural

Resources in May 2006, and reappointed in the six cabinet
on 28 October 2009 following the July 2009 Kurdistan
Region parliamentary elections.

Before joining the KRG cabinet, Dr Hawrami held several

senior oil executive positions in the private sector. Born in
Suleimaniah in 1948, Dr Hawrami gained a bachelors
degree in oil engineering from Baghdad University in 1971
and worked as an engineer in the Iraqi National Oil
Company (INOC) in Basra from 1971 to 1974.

After moving to the UK, Dr Hawrami worked as an engineer

on the North Sea in Scotland for the British National Oil
Company from 1975 to 1982. In 1978 he was awarded a PhD in Reserve Oil Engineering in Scotland, and
from 1982 to 1985 worked as a senior oil engineer for the company Intera in London. He was a senior
engineer for an exploration consultancy from 1985 to 1988, and from 1988 to 1999 he was the

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proprietor and director of DUK, a limited liability UK engineering and services firm. In 1999 he became
Chairman and CEO of ECL Group Plc. After retiring from ECL, he was appointed Minister of Natural
Resources in 2006.

TAHER ABDULLAH HUSSEIN HAWRAMI

Minister of Health

Dr Taher Hawrami was appointed Minister for

Health in the sixth KRG cabinet in October 2009,
following the July 2009 Kurdistan Region
parliamentary elections.

Before his current appointment, Dr Hawrami was

Director General of Health in Suleimaniah. He has
held several medical posts, including Director of the
Suleimaniah and Chwar Bakh Teaching Hospital,
and Assistant Professor of General Surgery and
later the Head of the Surgery Department of
Suleimaniah University.

Born in Tawela in 1955, he studied at Mosul University and gained a Bachelors degree in Medicine in
1980. He gained a High Diploma in Surgery in Baghdad in 1989, and in 1991 was awarded a PhD in
General Surgery. In 2002 he became Assistant Professor at Suleimaniah University, and in 2007 he was
appointed as a consultant in surgery. He continued his professional training, obtaining a diploma in
surgery in New Delhi in 2008.

Dr Hawrami is a co-founder and senior member of the Kurdistan Physician’s Association, serving as its
President for nine years from 1998. He is a member of Hawraman Intellectual Group, and a member of
the American and International Surgical General Practitioner Group.

HERISH MUHARAM
Chairman of the Investment Board

Speech by the Chairman:

http://wn.com/Minister_Herish_Muharam,_C
hairman_of_the_Kurdistan_Board_of_Investm
ent_Part_1wmv

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ALI SINDI
Minister of Planning

Dr. Ali Sindi was appointed Minister for Planning in the

sixth KRG cabinet in October 2009, following the July
2009 Kurdistan Region parliamentary elections.

Dr. Sindi's previous position was as an Adviser to the

KRG Prime Minister.

Born in Zakho in 1965, Dr. Sindi gained a bachelor’s

degree in Medicine from Mosul University in 1990, and
a masters in General Surgery from Salahaddin
University in 1998. From 1996 to 2001 he served as the
Deputy Minister of Health and Social Affairs in the
KRG's Erbil Administration. In 2002 he was awarded a
Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University and the same year was appointed as
an Adviser to the Prime Minister. In 2003 he gained a Diploma in Administration and Leadership from
Yale University.

KARIM SINJARI
Minister of the Interior

Mr Karim Sinjari was appointed as Minister for the Interior

May 2006, and reappointed in the six cabinet on 28 October
2009 following the July 2009 Kurdistan Region parliamentary
elections.

Mr Sinjari has served as Interior Minister in the Kurdistan

Region since 2001. Born in Sinjar in 1950, he graduated with a
degree in law from Baghdad University in 1971. He practised
as a lawyer in Baghdad from 1973 and joined the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP). He then joined the Peshmerga forces
and was appointed to the KDP’s provisional leadership (1976-
1980).

Mr Sinjari was exiled in Sweden for eight years (1980-1988)

and then returned to Kurdistan as head of the KDP’s security
service. After the first Kurdistan general elections of 1992, he
was appointed Director General of the Kurdistan Region’s
security service (1993). In 2001 he was appointed Interior Minister in the KRG's Erbil and Dohuk
administration, and elected to the central committee of the KDP. He was later appointed to the party's
Politburo.

Mr Sinjari speaks Swedish, English, Arabic and Persian. He is married with three children.

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BAYIZ SAEED MOHAMMED TALABANI
Minister for Finance and the Economy

Mr Bayiz Talabani was appointed as Minister for Finance and

the Economy in May 2006, and was reappointed in the six
cabinet on 28 October 2009 following the July 2009 Kurdistan
Region parliamentary elections.

Born in Kirkuk in 1944, Mr Talabani is a senior member of the

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). He has participated in 12
finance training courses nationally and abroad. He has served
in the PUK's Financial Bureau and co-founded the Financial
Oversight Directorate, which he has headed for six years.

In 2002 Mr Talabani was appointed Minister for Finance and

the Economy in the KRG's Suleimaniah Administration, and
then appointed to the same position in the unified KRG cabinet
in 2006.

Kirkuk Provincial Council (KPC)

The KPC was formed, after

the collapse of the last
regime in April 2003, from
all the four main ethnic
groups in Kirkuk utilizing
the principle of consensus
in order to run the local
government and fill the
administrative and
legislative vacuum in Kirkuk
province.

The first term of the KPC was followed by its next term by holding the election on June 30th2005, when
two voting processes were held to elect the Iraqi Transitional National Assembly in addition to the
Provincial Councils across the country.

On June 30th2005 through a secret direct voting process with the participation of the communities in
the province and despite the security problems of this process all over the country generally and in
Kirkuk in particular, nonetheless Kirkuk witnessed the birth of its first elected Provincial Council.

The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq IECI approved and announced the outcomes of this
process, which led to filling the 41 seats of Kirkuk Provincial Council by the successful lists as follows:

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# 367 List (Kirkuk Brotherhood List KBL): 26 seats
# 175 List (Iraqi Turkmen Front ITF): 8 seats
# 299 List (Iraqi Republic Gathering): 5 seats
# 178 List (Turkmen Islamic Coalition): 1 seat
# 289 List (Iraqi National Gathering): 1 seat

The new KPC has started its second term on March 6th 2005. Its inaugural session was dedicated to
having the introduction of its new members followed by the oath ceremony that was supervised by
Judge Thahir Hamza Salman, the Head of Kirkuk Appellate Court.

During by the next sessions, sub-committees were formed as the KPC Committees in order to run
and handle its duties. The principle of consensus, which was adopted by the Iraqi National Assembly in
forming its committees and in forming the Iraqi Transitional Government, has been adopted by KPC in
forming its committees. One of the committees is Article 58 and the Victims of Ethnic Cleansing Policies
Committees to follow up the procedures of normalizing the situation in Kirkuk Province according to the
new Iraqi Constitution.

KPC has emphasized on promoting the spirit of brotherhood and establishing the principles of
equality and community in order to provide services to citizens of the province impartially. Although the
conspiracies and intimidations of the terrorists, unbelievers and agents who are the enemies of our
people and who attempt in vain to spoil the democratic change process in building a state of law and
civil society, and who try to provoke the sectarianism and to create sedition among diverse communities
in Kirkuk province has had to be resisted.

Because of the common goals in the electoral agendas of the different electoral lists, KPC has
prioritized a list of aims to be accomplished; reconstruction, secure the settlement, promoting the rule
of law, improve the work of the government departments and institutions, providing equal job
opportunities, improving the living standards of the citizens and developing the basic services in
education, health and other fields.

DR. REZGAR ALI

Chairman of KPC

Graduation Degree: Diploma Degree in

Survey
KPC Block: Kirkuk Brotherhood List (KBL)
KPC Membership Turns: Two
Political Affiliation: PUK

“Rezgar Ali: The people of Kirkuk are the

owners of Kirkuk:”
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/
misc2006/11/kirkukkurdistan181.htm

“Rezgar Ali: No one can spoil relations

among Kirkuk people:”
http://pukmedia.com/english/index.php

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?option=com_content&view=article&id=2617%3Arizgar-ali-no-one-can-affect-or-spoil-relations-among-
kirkuk-people&Itemid=385

“Washington: Rezgar Ali meetings with senior US officials:”

http://pukmedia.com/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6038:washington-
rizgar-ali-meets-with-us-senior-officials-&catid=29:kurdistan-region&Itemid=385

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