Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer is Iraq's new interim president. His deputies will be Mr Jaafari, leader of the Shia Dawa party, and Mr Shaways, a Kurd.

© Le Monde.fr

Adnan Pachachi, 81, a candidate favoured by the US and the UN, was first offered the post, but turned it down (The Telegraph Yahoo! and Reuters)

CNN reports that the announcement of al-Yawar's selection came late Tuesday morning after a series of confusing developments that began with the U.S. administrator for Iraq, Paul Bremer, and U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi telling al-Yawar their choice was Adnan Pachachi. Less than two hours after al-Yawar's selection was announced, a loud explosion and gunfire was heard just outside the coalition headquarters compound known as the "Green Zone."

According to The New York Times, Mr. Yawar is the leader of the Shamar tribe, one of the largest groups in Iraq. He is an engineer who was educated in the United States and spent several years in exile in Saudi Arabia.

French daily Le Monde.fr indicates al-Yawer is 46 years old, was born in the Mosul area and presents himself as a leader merging both western and oriental cultures.

He studied engineering at DC's George-Washington University and moved to Saudi Arabia where his business flourished. When Saddam Hussein is ousted from power, he returns to Iraq, leaving everything behind. (Strangely, AP via Yahoo! says he graduated "of the Petroleum and Minerals University in Saudi Arabia and of Georgetown University")

Last July he is on Iraq's Governing Council, due to his Sunni origins. In favor of granting more power to the Kurds, he has always tried to stop fighting in Iraq and admitted last April he thought the Governing Council had failed its mission.

Categorie(s)/Catégorie(s): Iraq

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