Iraq News Now

The

Iraqi Parliament on Monday finally elected three candidates to key ministerial

posts in the government of Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

The

parliament elected Najah Hassan al-Shamari as Minister of Defense, Yassin

al-Yasiri for the Minister of Interior, and Farouq Amin Shwani as the Minister

of Justice.

Interior

Minister

Yassin

Taher al-Yasiri was born in Baghdad in 1958. He served as adviser to the minister

of interior. He is a lecturer at the Police College, and the High Institute for

Security and Administrative Development.

Yasiri

is a researcher and author in international law and the security strategies. He

holds a doctorate in public law philosophy from Al-Nahrain University.

Yasiri

has joined the Ministry of the Interior in 1979, and has held many leadership

positions in the ministry.

Yasiri

is backed by Ammar al-Hakim, a senior Shia leader, whose parliamentary bloc

with 19 seats recently announced they would play the role of the opposition

during this parliamentary term.

Defense

Minister

Maj.

Gen. Najah Hassan Ali al-Shammari was born in Baghdad in 1967. He was retired

at his request in 2018. He was a leader in the Special Forces branch, and has

held many military positions from 2003 until 2007.

The

new defense minister graduated from the Military College in 1987 after

obtaining a bachelor's degree in military sciences. He also obtained a master's

degree in strategic planning for national security. He also took many

specialized military and security courses in Iraq, Jordan and America.

Shamari

is a Sunni Arab and senior Iraqi military officer who was supported and

nominated by Ayad Allawi, the former Prime Minister and vice-President of Iraq.

Justice

Minister

Farouk al-Shwani was born in 1957 in Kirkuk. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Law and

Politics and obtained a High Diploma in Judicial Sciences from the Higher

Judicial Institute in Baghdad in 1993. He held several positions including the

presidency of the courts of appeal in Dhi Qar, Anbar and Kirkuk.

Shwani

is a high-ranking Kurdish judge who served as the Patriotic Union of

Kurdistan’s (PUK) candidate.

He

has received many letters of thanks and appreciation from the Iraqi government in

the field of human rights and counter-terrorism. He has been a judge in the

Presidency of Kirkuk Appellate Court since 2003.

Shwani

is Kurdish. He was granted the justice portfolio, according to the political

distribution of the sects, which is considered a custom rather than a law in

Iraq.