Mahmoud al-Mashhadani
Encyclopedia
Dr. Mahmoud Dawud al-Mashhadani is an Iraq
i politician
and a former Speaker
of the Iraqi Council of Representatives. He was elected
to the Council of Representatives as part of the Sunni
Arab
-led Iraqi Accord Front
list.
On December 17, 2008 he announced that he would resign over the chaos that had erupted in parliament among legislators over whether Muntadhar al-Zaidi
, the journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush
at a December 14 press conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
, should be freed from jail. The Iraqi Parliament accepted his resignation on December 23.
He was nominated to the speakership by the IAF after the main coalition in the Council of Representatives, the United Iraqi Alliance
, objected to the nomination of Tariq Al-Hashimi
. He was nominated as part of a deal on government posts between the IAF, UIA and Kurdistani Alliance
. He was unanimously elected to the speakership on April 22, 2006, receiving 159 votes against 97 spoilt and 10 abstentions.
Born in 1948 in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad
, he went to school in al-Khadhimiyah and graduated from Baghdad Medical College
in 1972. He joined the medical corps of the Iraqi Army as a Lieutenant and rose to the rank of Army Major
. He was imprisoned for opposing the First Gulf War in 1990 and sentenced to death, which was commuted to 15 years after payment of bribes. He was a founding member of the Iraqi National Dialogue Council
.
Deeply religious, Dr. al-Mashhadani is a Salafi Muslim. Salafis believe that Islam
became corrupted after the death of the first three generations of Muslims from the time of the Prophet, and any practices that postdate that time are viewed as heretical. They are most closely associated with the similar Wahhabi school predominate in Saudi Arabia, and are likewise seen by many Westerners as “puritanical” in an Islamic sense.
In June 2006, he met with U.S.
President
George W. Bush
during Bush's "surprise visit" to Iraq. Upon his return to Washington
, Bush said the following about Mashhadani at a press conference:
According to senior Iraq government officials, Dr. Mashhadani had been imprisoned by the United States because of his affiliations with Ansar al-Islam
and Jaish Ansar al-Sunna
in 2004.
In July 2006 Mashhadani told Al-Sharqiyah television the killings and kidnappings were the fault of "Jews, Israel
is and Zionists
...using Iraqi money and oil to frustrate the Islamic movement in Iraq". He said the perpetrators were linked to Mossad
and received their orders from Tel Aviv
. He warned "the day will come when we purge our country of them".
In that same interview, after being told about the kidnapping of a Sunni parliament member, Mashhadani replied with "Why kidnap this Muslim woman? Instead of Tayseer, why not kidnap Margaret or Jwan?", Margaret referring to Assyrian
Christians and Jwan referring to Kurds.
In late July 2006 at a speech before a UN-sponsored conference on transitional justice and reconciliation in Baghdad he said "Just get your hands off Iraq and the Iraqi people and Muslim countries, and everything will be all right." Later, in the same speech, he added, " What has been done in Iraq is a kind of butchery of the Iraqi people." He also added comments criticizing Israeli military action in Lebanon.
On September 6, 2006, Mashhadani expressed grave concern for the government of Iraq if its attempts at national reconciliation fail. "We have three to four months, and if the country does not survive this, the boat will sink," he said.
On June 10, 2007, political blocs in Iraq agreed to replace Mashhadani, most likely with another Sunni lawmaker. The consensus was reached after reports that Mashhadani's bodyguards assaulted a Shi'ite legislator, the culmination of a series of "thuggish" acts by the speaker. Mashhadani had also controversially called suicide bombers who kill Americans "heroes".
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i politician
Politics of Iraq
The politics of Iraq takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic. It is a multi-party system whereby the executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers as the head of government, as well as the President of Iraq, and...
and a former Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
of the Iraqi Council of Representatives. He was elected
Iraqi legislative election, December 2005
Following the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on 15 October 2005, a general election was held on 15 December to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi Council of Representatives....
to the Council of Representatives as part of the Sunni
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
-led Iraqi Accord Front
Iraqi Accord Front
The Iraqi Accord Front or Iraqi Accordance Front also known as Tawafuq is an Iraqi Sunni-Islamist political coalition created on October 26, 2005 by the Iraqi Islamic Party to contest the December 2005 general election...
list.
On December 17, 2008 he announced that he would resign over the chaos that had erupted in parliament among legislators over whether Muntadhar al-Zaidi
Muntadhar al-Zaidi
Muntadhar al-Zaidi is an Iraqi broadcast journalist who served as a correspondent for Iraqi-owned, Egyptian-based Al-Bagh. , al-Zaidi works with a Lebanese TV channel....
, the journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
at a December 14 press conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
Nouri al-Maliki
Nouri Kamil Mohammed Hasan al-Maliki , also known as Jawad al-Maliki or Abu Esraa, is the Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Al-Maliki and his government succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government. He is currently in his second term as Prime Minister...
, should be freed from jail. The Iraqi Parliament accepted his resignation on December 23.
He was nominated to the speakership by the IAF after the main coalition in the Council of Representatives, the United Iraqi Alliance
United Iraqi Alliance
The National Iraqi Alliance , also known as the Watani List, is an Iraqi electoral coalition that contested the Iraqi legislative election, 2010. The Alliance is mainly composed of Shi'a Islamist parties...
, objected to the nomination of Tariq Al-Hashimi
Tariq Al-Hashimi
Tariq al-Hashimi is an Iraqi politician and was general secretary of the Iraqi Islamic Party until May 2009. Along with Adil Abdul Mahdi, he is a Vice President of Iraq in the government formed after the December 2005 elections...
. He was nominated as part of a deal on government posts between the IAF, UIA and Kurdistani Alliance
Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan
The Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan sometimes referred to simply as the Kurdistan Alliance is the name of the electoral coalition first presented as a united Kurdish list in the January 2005 election in Iraq. Elections were held simultaneously for the assembly of the Kurdistan Regional...
. He was unanimously elected to the speakership on April 22, 2006, receiving 159 votes against 97 spoilt and 10 abstentions.
Born in 1948 in a Shi'ite district of Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, he went to school in al-Khadhimiyah and graduated from Baghdad Medical College
College of Medicine University of Baghdad
The College of Medicine University of Baghdad, formerly known as the Iraqi Royal Medical College, was established in 1927. The first Dean and its founder was Sir Harry Sinderson , a British physician who was the physician of the Iraqi Royal Family....
in 1972. He joined the medical corps of the Iraqi Army as a Lieutenant and rose to the rank of Army Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
. He was imprisoned for opposing the First Gulf War in 1990 and sentenced to death, which was commuted to 15 years after payment of bribes. He was a founding member of the Iraqi National Dialogue Council
Iraqi National Dialogue Council
The Iraqi National Dialogue Council is a Sunni Islamist political party initially established as an umbrella organization of approximately ten smaller Sunni parties to take part in the 2005 Iraqi Constitution drafting process. The party was founded by Saleh al-Mutlaq and Khalaf al-Ulayyan...
.
Deeply religious, Dr. al-Mashhadani is a Salafi Muslim. Salafis believe that Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
became corrupted after the death of the first three generations of Muslims from the time of the Prophet, and any practices that postdate that time are viewed as heretical. They are most closely associated with the similar Wahhabi school predominate in Saudi Arabia, and are likewise seen by many Westerners as “puritanical” in an Islamic sense.
In June 2006, he met with U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
during Bush's "surprise visit" to Iraq. Upon his return to Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Bush said the following about Mashhadani at a press conference:
The Sunni—I was impressed, by the way, by the Speaker—Denny HastertDennis HastertJohn Dennis "Denny" Hastert was the 59th Speaker of the House serving from 1999 to 2007. He represented as a Republican for twenty years, 1987 to 2007.He is the longest-serving Republican Speaker in history...
told me I'd like him; Denny met with him. And I was impressed by him. He's a fellow that had been put in prison by Saddam and, interestingly enough, put in prison by us. And he made a decision to participate in the government. And he was an articulate person. He talked about running the parliament. It was interesting to see a person that could have been really bitter talk about the skills he's going to need to bring people together to run the parliament. And I found him to be a hopeful person.
They tell me that he wouldn't have taken my phone call a year ago—I think I might have shared this with you at one point in time—and there I was, sitting next to the guy. And I think he enjoyed it as much as I did. It was a refreshing moment.
According to senior Iraq government officials, Dr. Mashhadani had been imprisoned by the United States because of his affiliations with Ansar al-Islam
Ansar al-Islam
Ansar al-Islam is a Sunni Islamist group of Iraqis, promoting a radical interpretation of Islam, close to the official Saudi ideology of Wahhabism with strict application of Sharia. The group was formed in the northern provinces of Iraq near the Iranian border, and previously had established...
and Jaish Ansar al-Sunna
Jaish Ansar al-Sunna
Ansar al-Sunnah or Jamaat Ansar al-Sunnah or Group of the Followers of Sunnah , is a terrorist salafi group in Iraq that is fighting the U.S.-led occupation and the elected government led by Nouri al-Maliki. The group is based in northern and central Iraq, and includes mostly Iraqi fighters...
in 2004.
In July 2006 Mashhadani told Al-Sharqiyah television the killings and kidnappings were the fault of "Jews, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
is and Zionists
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
...using Iraqi money and oil to frustrate the Islamic movement in Iraq". He said the perpetrators were linked to Mossad
Mossad
The Mossad , short for HaMossad leModi'in uleTafkidim Meyuchadim , is the national intelligence agency of Israel....
and received their orders from Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
. He warned "the day will come when we purge our country of them".
In that same interview, after being told about the kidnapping of a Sunni parliament member, Mashhadani replied with "Why kidnap this Muslim woman? Instead of Tayseer, why not kidnap Margaret or Jwan?", Margaret referring to Assyrian
Assyrian people
The Assyrian people are a distinct ethnic group whose origins lie in ancient Mesopotamia...
Christians and Jwan referring to Kurds.
In late July 2006 at a speech before a UN-sponsored conference on transitional justice and reconciliation in Baghdad he said "Just get your hands off Iraq and the Iraqi people and Muslim countries, and everything will be all right." Later, in the same speech, he added, " What has been done in Iraq is a kind of butchery of the Iraqi people." He also added comments criticizing Israeli military action in Lebanon.
On September 6, 2006, Mashhadani expressed grave concern for the government of Iraq if its attempts at national reconciliation fail. "We have three to four months, and if the country does not survive this, the boat will sink," he said.
On June 10, 2007, political blocs in Iraq agreed to replace Mashhadani, most likely with another Sunni lawmaker. The consensus was reached after reports that Mashhadani's bodyguards assaulted a Shi'ite legislator, the culmination of a series of "thuggish" acts by the speaker. Mashhadani had also controversially called suicide bombers who kill Americans "heroes".