1.
Iraq
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The capital, and largest city, is Baghdad. The main ethnic groups are Arabs and Kurds, others include Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabakis, Yazidis, Armenians, Mandeans, Circassians, around 95% of the countrys 36 million citizens are Muslims, with Christianity, Yarsan, Yezidism, and Mandeanism also present. The official languages of Iraq are Arabic and Kurdish, two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run south through Iraq and into the Shatt al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. These rivers provide Iraq with significant amounts of fertile land, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, historically known as Mesopotamia, is often referred to as the cradle of civilisation. It was here that mankind first began to read, write, create laws, the area has been home to successive civilisations since the 6th millennium BC. Iraq was the centre of the Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian and it was also part of the Median, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires. Iraqs modern borders were mostly demarcated in 1920 by the League of Nations when the Ottoman Empire was divided by the Treaty of Sèvres, Iraq was placed under the authority of the United Kingdom as the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. A monarchy was established in 1921 and the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence from Britain in 1932, in 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Iraqi Republic created. Iraq was controlled by the Arab Socialist Baath Party from 1968 until 2003, after an invasion by the United States and its allies in 2003, Saddam Husseins Baath Party was removed from power and multi-party parliamentary elections were held in 2005. The American presence in Iraq ended in 2011, but the Iraqi insurgency continued and intensified as fighters from the Syrian Civil War spilled into the country, the Arabic name العراق al-ʿIrāq has been in use since before the 6th century. There are several suggested origins for the name, one dates to the Sumerian city of Uruk and is thus ultimately of Sumerian origin, as Uruk was the Akkadian name for the Sumerian city of Urug, containing the Sumerian word for city, UR. An Arabic folk etymology for the name is rooted, well-watered. During the medieval period, there was a region called ʿIrāq ʿArabī for Lower Mesopotamia and ʿIrāq ʿajamī, for the region now situated in Central and Western Iran. The term historically included the south of the Hamrin Mountains. The term Sawad was also used in early Islamic times for the region of the plain of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In English, it is either /ɪˈrɑːk/ or /ɪˈræk/, the American Heritage Dictionary, the pronunciation /aɪˈræk/ is frequently heard in U. S. media. Since approximately 10,000 BC, Iraq was one of centres of a Caucasoid Neolithic culture where agriculture, the following Neolithic period is represented by rectangular houses. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gypsum, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations
2.
Politics of Iraq
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The politics of Iraq place in a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic. The current Prime Minister of Iraq is Haider al-Abadi, who holds most of the executive authority, which acts as a cabinet and/or government. Before the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the Baath Party officially ruled, Iraq was occupied by foreign troops beginning with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, with military forces coming primarily from the United States and the United Kingdom. Most foreign militaries operated under the umbrella of the Multinational force in Iraq, authorized under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1546,1637,1723, on January 1,2009 the U. S. –Iraq Status of Forces Agreement entered into force. The occupation yielded to an administrative law, which was replaced by the Constitution of Iraq following approval in a referendum held on October 15,2005. A permanent 275-member Council of Representatives was elected in the December 2005 Iraqi parliamentary election, initiating the formation of the Government of Iraq, the federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, the legislative branch is composed of the Council of Representatives and a Federation Council. The executive branch is composed of the President, the Prime Minister, one such court is the Central Criminal Court. The Central Bank of Iraq, the Board of Supreme Audit, the Communications and Media Commission, the Foundation of Martyrs is attached to the Council of Ministers. The Federal Public Service Council regulates the affairs of the public service, including appointment. The basic subdivisions of the country are the regions and the governorates, both regions and governorates are given broad autonomy with regions given additional powers such as control of internal security forces for the region such as police, security forces, and guards. The last local elections for the governorates were held in the 2009 Iraqi governorate elections on 31 January 2009, the constitution requires that the Council of Representatives enact a law which provides the procedures for forming a new region 6 months from the start of its first session. A law was passed 11 October 2006 by a vote with only 138 of 275 representatives present. Legislators from the Iraqi Accord Front, Sadrist Movement and Islamic Virtue Party all opposed the bill. Under the law, a region can be created out of one or more existing governorates or two or more existing regions, and a governorate can also join an existing region to create a new region. A new region can be proposed by one third or more of the members in each affected governorate plus 500 voters or by one tenth or more voters in each affected governorate. A referendum must then be held three months, which requires a simple majority in favour to pass. In the event of competing proposals, the proposals are put to a ballot
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Federal government of Iraq
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The federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, article 114 of the Constitution of Iraq provided that no new region may be created before the Iraqi National Assembly has passed a law which provides the procedures for forming the region. A law was passed in October 2006 after an agreement was reached with the Iraqi Accord Front to form the constitutional review committee, legislators from the Iraqi Accord Front, Sadrist Movement and Islamic Virtue Party all opposed the bill. Under the Federalism Law a region can be created out of one or more existing governorates or two or more existing regions, a governorate can also join an existing region to create a new region. There is no limit to the number of governorates that can form a region, a new region can be proposed by one third or more of the council members in each affected governorate plus 500 voters or by one tenth or more voters in each affected governorate. A referendum must then be held three months, which requires a simple majority in favour to pass. In the event of competing proposals, the proposals are put to a ballot. The President, Prime Minister and Ministers of the region are elected by simple majority, the executive branch is composed of the President and the Council of Ministers. The President is elected by the Council of Representatives by a two-thirds majority, there was also a Vice President which assumed the office of the President in case of his absence or removal. The Council of Ministers is composed of the Prime Minister as head of government, the President of Iraq names the nominee of the Council of Representatives bloc with the largest number to form the Cabinet. As of August 2012, the Federation Council had not yet come into existence, the Council of Representatives is the main elected body of Iraq. The Constitution defines the number of members at a ratio of one representative per 100,000 Iraqi persons representing the entire Iraqi people, the members are elected for terms of 4 years. The Federation Council will be composed of representatives from the regions, the council is to be regulated by law by the Council of Representatives. As of August 2012, the Federation Council had not yet come into existence, one such court is the Central Criminal Court. The Higher Judicial Council manages and supervises the affairs of the federal judiciary, the Supreme Court is an independent judicial body that interprets the constitution and determines the constitutionality of laws and regulations. It also ratifies the final results of the elections for the Council of Representatives. The Central Criminal Court of Iraq is the criminal court of Iraq. The CCCI is based on a system and consists of two chambers, an investigative court, and a criminal court
4.
Fuad Masum
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Muhammad Fuad Masum is the seventh and current President of Iraq, in office since 24 July 2014. He is a veteran Iraqi Kurdish politician and was elected as President following the 2014 parliamentary election, Masum is the second non-Arab president of Iraq, succeeding Jalal Talabani, also Kurdish, and is a confidant of Talabani. Fuad Masum was born in the city of Koya and his family descends from the village of Khabanen, which is part of Hawraman. He studied at religious schools in Iraqi Kurdistan until the age of 18. He studied law and Sharia at Baghdad University, in 1958, Masum traveled to Cairo to complete his higher education at Al-Azhar University. He worked as a professor in Basrah University in 1968 and he earned his PhD in Islamic philosophy from Al-Azhar in 1975. Masum joined the Iraqi Communist Party in 1962, until 1964, after Masum discovered Bakdashs attitudes against the Kurds, he quit the party to join the Kurdistan Democratic Party. In 1968, Masum was the PDK representative in Basra and he was also the representative of the Kurdish Revolution in Cairo until 1975. Masum was one of the founders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in 1976, by 1992, he was the first prime minister of Kurdistan. In 2003, following the invasion of Iraq, Masum returned to Baghdad to be a member of the delegation representing Kurdistan, in 2010, Masum became the first Speaker of the Council of Representatives. In 2014, he was elected by the parliament representatives as the president of Iraq. Masum won 211 votes while his closest competitor, Barham Salih, the decision was made during a secret vote of Kurdish MPs, who traditionally have control over the presidency for the sake of political balance. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was present in Iraq when the decision was made, Masum accepted the position, noting the huge security, political and economic tasks he faces as president. On 26 August, Masum appointed a new minister, Haider al-Abadi. Masums appointment of Haider al-Abadi as new minister was considered illegal by Nouri al-Maliki. Maliki said that in spite of his erosion of power it was his duty to remain in power because the appointment was a conspiracy rooted from outside of Iraq. Al-Maliki referred the matter to the federal court claiming, the insistence on this until the end is to protect the state, Masum is married to Rounak Abdulwahid Mustafa and has five daughters, Shereen, Juwan, Zozan, Shilan and Veian. He had a son, Showan, who died from a childhood illness, can Iraqs new president save country from fragmenting
5.
Prime Minister of Iraq
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The Prime Minister of Iraq is Iraqs head of government. Prime Minister was originally an office, subsidiary to the head of state. Under the newly adopted constitution the Prime Minister is to be the active executive authority. Nouri al-Maliki was selected to be Prime Minister on 21 April 2006, on 14 August 2014 al-Maliki agreed to step down as prime minister of Iraq to allow Haider al-Abadi to take his place. The Council of Representatives elected the President of the Republic and his Deputies, the Presidency Council then shall name a Prime Minister unanimously. According to this, The Presidency Council must agree on a candidate for the post within two weeks, in the event that it fails to do so, the responsibility of naming the Prime Minister reverts to the National Assembly. In that event, the Council of Representatives must confirm the nomination by an absolute majority, if the Prime Minister is unable to nominate his Council of Ministers within one month, the Presidency Council shall name another Prime Minister. The Iraqi Counter Terrorism Bureau reports to the Prime Minister directly, the Iraqi CTB oversees the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Command, a formation that includes all Iraqi Special Operations Forces. As of 30 June 2009, there had been legislation in progress for a year to make the Iraqi CTB a separate ministry, List of Prime Ministers of Iraq List of Kings of Iraq List of Presidents of Iraq
6.
Haider al-Abadi
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Haider Jawad Kadhim Al-Abadi is an Iraqi politician who has been Prime Minister of Iraq since September 2014. Previously he served as Minister of Communication from 2003 to 2004, a Muslim, he was designated as Prime Minister by President Fuad Masum on 11 August 2014 to succeed Nouri al-Maliki and was approved by the Iraqi parliament on 8 September 2014. Al-Abadi, who speaks English, graduated high school in 1970 from Central High School in Baghdad, in 1975, he earned a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Technology in Baghdad. In 1980, he earned a PhD degree in Electrical engineering from the University of Manchester, Al-Abadi joined the Dawa Party in 1967. Two of his brothers were killed and one was put in prison 1980,1981, in 1977 he became the chief of the party while studying in London. In 1979 he became a member of the executive leadership. In 1983 the government confiscated al-Abadis passport for conspiring against Iraqs Baath Party, Al-Abadi remained in the UK, in voluntary exile, until the 2003 invasion of Iraq. While working in London in 2001 Al-Abadi registered a patent relating to rapid transit systems, in 2003, Al-Abadi became skeptical of the Coalition Provisional Authority privatization plan, proposing to Paul Bremer that they had to wait for a legitimate government to be formed. The CPA, led by Bremer, fell out with Al-Abadi, while Al-Abadi was Minister of Communications, the CPA awarded licenses to three mobile operators to cover all parts of Iraq. Despite being rendered nearly powerless by the CPA, Al-Abadi was not prepared to be a rubber stamp, among them that a sovereign Iraqi government has the power to amend or terminate the licenses and introduce a fourth national license, which caused some friction with the CPA. Al-Abadi asserted that there was no illicit dealing in the completed awards, between January and December 2005, he served as an adviser to the Prime Minister of Iraq in the first elected government. He was elected as a member of the Iraqi Parliament in the December 2005 parliamentary election and chaired the committee for Economy, Investment. Al-Abadi was re-elected in the 2010 parliamentary election as a member of the Iraqi Parliament representing Baghdad, in 2013, he chaired the Finance Committee and was at the center of a parliamentary dispute over the allocation of the 2013 Iraqi budget. In 2008, Al-Abadi remained steadfast in his support of Iraqi sovereignty, in 2009, Al-Abadi was identified by the Middle East Economic Digest as a key person to watch in Iraqs reconstruction. He is a member of the Iraq Petroleum Advisory Committee, participating in the Iraq Petroleum Conferences of 2009–2012 organized by Nawar Abdulhadi. Al-Abadi was again tipped as a possible Prime Minister during the negotiations between Iraqi political blocs after the elections of 2010 to choose a replacement to incumbent PM Nouri Al-Maliki. Again in 2014, he was nominated by Shia political parties as a candidate for Prime Minister. On 24 July 2014, Fuad Masum became the new president of Iraq and he, in turn, nominated Al-Abadi for prime minister on 11 August
7.
Council of Representatives of Iraq
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The Council of Representatives of Iraq is the unicameral legislature of Iraq. It is currently composed of 328 seats and meets in Baghdad inside the Green Zone, an elected Iraqi parliament first formed following the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1925. The 1925 constitution called for a parliament whose lower house. The upper house, the Senate was appointed by the king, ten elections took place between 1925 and the coup of 1958. On January 17,1953 elections for the Chamber of Deputies took place, following controversy over the implementation of the so-called Baghdad Pact, Prime Minister Nuri Pasha as-Said called elections the following year, in early 1954. As-Said dissolved the assembly shortly thereafter and began to rule by decree, the second 1954 election was very corrupt, with as-Saids political enemies banned from running, and widespread voter coercion. The assembly was suspended yet again, and in 1958 a military coup deposed as-Said and the monarchy, the 1970 constitution created a republic with an elected National Assembly. However, elections for the Assembly did not take place until June 1980, under Iraqs new military president, several more elections took place between 1989 and 2003. The new Assembly was largely a figurehead that would occasionally rubber stamp the presidents decrees, elections for its members were not considered free and fair by the international community. Only members of Husseins own Baath Party were ever elected, in 2003, Saddam Hussein was forcibly removed from power by the United States of America, the United Kingdom and their allies during the Iraq War. This Assembly would draft a permanent constitution which would then be submitted to approval by the Iraqi people in a general referendum, elections for this transitional National Assembly took place on January 30,2005. The United Iraqi Alliance Party won the plurality of seats with 48% of the popular vote resulting in 140 seats, eighty-five members of the assembly were women. Talks between the UIA and other parties to form a coalition government began soon after the election, the assembly had its first meeting on March 16,2005. The Assembly elected Jalal Talabani to head the Presidency Council on April 6, under the permanent constitution approved on October 15,2005, legislative authority is vested in two bodies, the Council of Representatives and the Council of Union. The Council of Representatives consists of 325 members elected for four years, the Council passes federal laws, oversees the executive, ratifies treaties, and approves nominations of specified officials. It elects the president of the republic, who selects a prime minister from the majority coalition in the Council, elections for the Council of Representatives were held on December 15,2005. The Council first met on March 16,2006, exactly one year after the first meeting of the transitional assembly. The Council of Representatives of Iraq has the name in Arabic as the lower legislative houses of Bahrain, Morocco, Jordan, and Yemen
8.
Salim al-Jabouri
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Dr Salim Abdullah al-Jabouri is an Iraqi politician who was elected as the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament on 15 July 2014. Al-Jabouri is a Sunni Arab from Muqdadiya, Diyala Governorate who obtained a doctorate in law in 2001 and he worked as a law professor at Nahrain University in Baghdad. He was originally a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party and he was elected to the Council of Representatives of Iraq in December 2005 for the Iraqi Accord Front list and he became deputy head of parliaments legal committee. Two of his brothers, Fuad and Ahmed al-Jabouri, were killed in an attack in 2007 in Muqdadiya and he stood in Diyala in the March 2010 general election but the Iraqi Accord Front failed to have any MPs elected from that province. However, he defected to the Iraqiya list and was nominated to parliament in December 2010 as a replacement MP and he headed the parliaments Human Rights Committee, where he accused the government of Nouri al Maliki of torturing detainees. In 2011, the Iraqi newspaper Al-Sabah al-Jadid quoted sources saying an arrest warrant had been issued for him on charges of terrorism, the al Sabah newspaper reported at the same time that the Higher Judicial Council had asked the parliament to lift his immunity. In March 2014 he was targeted by a bomb which killed two of his bodyguards. His election was approved by the Independent High Electoral Commission on the grounds that they had serious crime cases pending against him. However, he was acquitted by the Federal Supreme Court and allowed to take his seat, al-Jabouri won 194 votes, a majority of the 328 MPs as required under the constitution
9.
Governorates of Iraq
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Iraq consists of 19 governorates, also known as provinces. Former President Saddam Hussein divided the country into eighteen governorates in the 1970s for reasons of ethnic manipulation, a portion of the Kurdish-inhabited area of the country was granted autonomy in 1970. In 2014 the decision was made to create the Halabja Governorate out of the Halabja District of Sulaymaniyah Governorate, on 21 January 2014, the Council of Ministers of the Government of Iraq approved in principle proposals to create more governorates. The Council announced that two new governorates Tal Afar and Tuz Khurmatu would be formed from the current Nineveh Governorate and Saladin Governorate, respectively. It was also announced that the city of Fallujah of the Al Anbar Governorate would become a separate governorate, kuwait Governorate Districts of Iraq List of places in Iraq ISO 3166-2, IQ
10.
Iraqi Kurdistan
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Iraqi Kurdistan, officially called the Kurdistan Region by the Iraqi constitution, is located in the north of Iraq and constitutes the countrys only autonomous region. The region is governed by the Kurdistan Regional Government, with the capital being Erbil. Kurdistan is a democracy with its own regional Parliament that consists of 111 seats. Masoud Barzani, who was elected as president in 2005, was re-elected in 2009. In August 2013 the parliament extended his presidency for two years. His presidency concluded on 19 August 2015 after the parties failed to reach an agreement over extending his term. The new Constitution of Iraq defines the Kurdistan Region as an entity of Iraq. The four governorates of Duhok, Hawler, Silemani, and Halabja comprise around 41,710 square kilometres and have a population of 5.5 million. In 2014, during the 2014 Iraq Crisis, Iraqi Kurdistans forces also took much of the disputed territories of Northern Iraq. The establishment of the Kurdistan Region dates back to the March 1970 autonomy agreement between the Kurdish opposition and the Iraqi government after years of heavy fighting, further, the 1980–88 Iran–Iraq War, especially the Iraqi Armys Al-Anfal Campaign, devastated the population and environment of Iraqi Kurdistan. As Kurds continued to fight government troops, Iraqi forces finally left Kurdistan in October 1991, in 1992, the major political parties in the region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, established the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government. The 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent political changes led to the ratification of a new constitution in 2005, the name Kurdistan literally means Land of the Kurds. The suffix -stan is Iranian for place of or country, in English translations of the Constitution of Iraq, it is called Kurdistan, four times in the phrase region of Kurdistan and once in the phrase Kurdistan region. The regional government calls it the Kurdistan Region, the full name of the government is the Kurdistan Regional Government, abbreviated KRG. Kurds also refer to the region as Başûrê Kurdistanê or Başûrî Kurdistan, during the Baath Party administration in the 1970s and 1980s, the region was called the Kurdish Autonomous Region. The Kurdistan Region is largely mountainous, with the highest point being a 3,611 m point known locally as Cheekha Dar, the mountains are part of the larger Zagros mountain range which also extends into Iran. There are many rivers running through the region, which is distinguished by its fertile lands, plentiful water, the Great Zab and the Little Zab flow from the east to the west in the region. The Tigris river enters Iraqi Kurdistan from Turkish Kurdistan, the mountainous nature of Iraqi Kurdistan, the difference of temperatures in its various parts, and its wealth of waters make it a land of agriculture and tourism
11.
Kurdistan Regional Government
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The Kurdistan Regional Government is the official ruling body of the predominantly Kurdish region of Northern Iraq referred to as Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan. The cabinet is selected by the majority party or list who also select the prime minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, the president is directly elected by the electorate of the region and is the head of the cabinet and chief of state who delegates executive powers to the cabinet. The prime minister is traditionally the head of the legislative body, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan is also the commander-in-chief of the Peshmerga Armed Forces. Parliament creates and passes laws by a majority vote, and the president has the power to any bill. Since 1992, the bodies have been primarily based in Arbil. The KRG parliament, or the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament, is elected by popular vote, voters are given one vote and may choose a single party from the list. The cabinet is selected by the majority party or parties, the majority party or coalition appoints and negotiates terms for the prime minister of the Kurdistan region. The president of the Kurdistan region is directly elected by its citizens, currently, the cabinet is composed of the largest two governing parties, the KDP and the PUK and their allies. Due to the 7% threshold the only parties which had a chance of winning seats in parliament were the KDP and the PUK. The election resulted in a victory for the KDP, which with 45% of the vote gained 51 seats while the PUK with 44% of the vote gained 49 seats. However, due to allegations of election fraud they divided the seats 50-50, the government however collapsed and resulted in a civil war breaking out in 1994. The last parliamentary meeting was held in 1996 and it resulted in the creation of two Kurdish states, a PUK-controlled state based in Silemani and a KDP-controlled state based in Hewler, both proclaiming themselves as legitimate rulers of Kurdistan. Previously, the region was divided up by administrative provinces that were under control of either the KDP or the PUK, in 2004, the two parties created one unified list or coalition called the Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan, which included several smaller parties as well. Not surprisingly, the received the majority of votes allowing the KDP. The coalition achieved 104 of the 111 seats in parliament, in June 2012, the IKP held its first official meeting with Massoud Barzani as the elected president. After six long months, the IKP finally agreed on administration positions, in 2006, the government was selected with Nechervan Idris Barzani as prime minister. The parties also negotiated terms for the prime minister, Nechervan Barzani, who is a member of the KDP, was expected to serve two years and would be replaced with a PUK candidate in 2008. Governorate elections were held in Iraq, in 2005, including in the three Kurdish provinces, the elections resulted in a KDP victory in Hewler and Duhok with PUK a victory in Silemani
12.
Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament
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The Kurdistan Parliament, also called the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament, is the parliament of Iraqi Kurdistan. Prior to the Kurdistan Election Law passed in March 2009, the body was referred to as the Kurdistan National Assembly, the IKP is a 111-member unicameral body in which 11 seats are reserved for non-Kurdish minority communities of the Iraqi Kurdistan region. The IKP building is located in Erbil, the capital of the Iraqi Kurdistan region. The IKP holds two sessions per year, each covering a span of four out of the year. The IKP works by committees that focus on areas such as legal affairs, education and higher education, finance and economy, or relations. Since its formation, the IKP has passed several important laws relating to administration, political parties, the press, the economy, culture, Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament is the Kurdistan Region’s democratically elected parliament. The KNA consists of one elected chamber, the three main functions of the IKP are to examine proposals for new law, to scrutinise government policy and administration, and to debate the major issues of the day. The founding principles of the IKP are liberty, pluralism, accountability, openness, to protect civilians from attacks by Iraqi military forces following the 1991 Gulf War, the US, UK and France initiated a no-fly zone above the 36th line of latitude which cuts across Kurdistan. On the ground, a security zone was established by military forces from eleven countries and these no-fly and security zones strongly supported and encouraged refugees, including those who had left in the 1970s, to return to their homes. Later in 1991, Saddam Hussein withdrew his forces and his administration, including the national flag, faced with the administrative vacuum and double embargo, the Kurdistan Front, an alliance of diverse political groups in Iraqi Kurdistan, decided to hold a general election. Their goal was to establish an administration to provide for public services. The population also expressed a desire to choose its representatives. The election, held on 19 May 1992, was the first free, voter turnout was very high and the elections were deemed to be free, fair, and democratic by international observers. After decades of dictatorship, the people in Kurdistan were able to vote for their representatives and this regional election led to the formation of the first Kurdistan National Assembly and the establishment of the Kurdistan Regional Government. The leadership and the people of the Iraqi Kurdistan region decided to part of Iraq. By 15 July 1992, the Kurdistan National Assembly had convened,1, the first law passed by the assembly, established it as the Region’s legislature. The first election for the Kurdistan National Assembly was held in 1992, no elections were then held for the next 13 years until the 2005 elections which coincided with the election of the Iraqi Interim Government and election of governorate councils. Under Article 8 of the Kurdistan Electoral Law, elections must be held four years
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Elections in Iraq
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Elections in Iraq gives information on election and election results in Iraq. Under the Iraqi constitution of 1925, Iraq was a monarchy, with a bicameral legislature consisting of an elected House of Representatives. The lower house was elected four years by manhood suffrage. The first Parliament met in 1925, ten general elections were held before the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958. The electoral system, however, was manipulated by the King and his advisors, between 1958 and 2003 Iraq was ruled by a series of military governments, all dominated by Iraqi Arabs, particularly after the emergence of the Baath Party in the early 1960s. Under the regime of Saddam Hussein, who came to power in 1979, Kurds, Saddams rule was largely run by Sunni Arabs from Tikrit, his home region. 96% received in 1995. Outside governments dismissed the vote as lacking credibility, the multinational forces 2003 invasion of Iraq overthrew Saddams government and installed an interim administration. An initial Iraqi attempt at holding local elections was canceled by Paul Bremer and this government held elections on January 30,2005 to begin the process of writing a constitution. International groups and the formerly excluded factions claimed that the January 2005 elections were the first free elections in Iraqs history and this is in stark contrast to previous elections. After the 16 October 2002 referendum on the extension of his role as President, Saddam Hussein claimed that %100 of the voters voted yes and that %100 of Iraqis had voted. Opponents of the occupation, such as the insurgent groups, claimed the elections were not free and fair. The UN adviser to Iraqs election commission Craig Jenness said the complaints were not significant, I dont see anything that would necessitate a rerun. There were nearly 7,000 candidates standing in election and only 275 seats, so youre always going to have winners and losers. Second, The new Council of Representatives shall be elected forty-five days before the conclusion of the electoral term. The previous election had been on 15 December 2005, the opening session of the Council of Representatives had been 16 March 2006 and the first substantive session of the Council of Representatives was then held on 22 April 2006. The Court was of the opinion that the swearing in session on 16 March 2006 was the first session as required by Article 56. It therefore followed that the conclusion of the year would be on 15 March 2010. The court decided that the year referred to was the 365-day Gregorian year
14.
Independent High Electoral Commission
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The Independent High Electoral Commission is Iraqs electoral commission. The electoral commission is headed by a nine-member board, seven of those members are voting and must be Iraqi citizens. The other two members are the Chief Electoral Officer and an expert appointed by the United Nations. In 2007 the IECI was renamed the Independent High Electoral Commission in accordance with Law 11 of the Council of Representatives of Iraq, in the 2005 election the expert was Colombian Carlos Valenzuela. The current Chief Electoral Officer is Adil Lami, the commission set up and ran the January 2005 Iraqi legislative election as well as the simultaneous elections for provincial governments and the Kurdistan Regional Government. Little is known about the commission, its procedures, organization, composition, the commission receives lists of candidates to ban from the Council of Representatives Accountability and Justice Commission. It also set up the places in fourteen nations outside of Iraq. The Commission is also tasked with dealing with complaints about the election
15.
Iraqi parliamentary election, January 2005
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Elections for the National Assembly of Iraq were held on January 30,2005 in Iraq. The 275-member National Assembly was a parliament created under the Transitional Law during the Occupation of Iraq, the United Iraqi Alliance, tacitly backed by Shia Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, led with some 48% of the vote. The Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan was in place with some 26% of the vote. Prime Minister Ayad Allawis party, the Iraqi List, came third with some 14%, in total, twelve parties received enough votes to win a seat in the assembly. Low Arab Sunni turnout threatened the legitimacy of the election, which was as low as 2% in Anbar province, more than 100 armed attacks on polling places took place, killing at least 44 people across Iraq, including at least 20 in Baghdad. In November 2003, the US-managed Coalition Provisional Authority had announced plans to turn over sovereignty to an Iraqi Interim Government by mid-2004, the actual transfer of sovereignty occurred on 28 June 2004. The interim president installed was Sheikh Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer, and the prime minister was Iyad Allawi. The election was seen by some as a victory for democracy in the Middle East, but that opinion is not shared by all, especially as most of the Arab Sunnis boycotted the vote. Seymour Hersh has reported there was an effort by the U. S. government to shift funds and other resources to Allawi. Two parties supported by the majority Shia Muslim community between them won a majority of seats, while representing the Kurdish community will also be strongly represented. Parties representing the Sunni Arab community boycotted the elections and some armed Sunni groups threatened election day violence, there were 44 deaths around polling stations in at least 9 separate attacks on election day. With a total of some 8.4 million votes cast, a 58% turnout, voter turnout ranged from 89% in the Kurdish region of Dahuk to two percent in the Sunni region of Anbar. After the legislative elections held in December 2005, where 76, 4% of registered voters participated, there has however been considerable criticism of criminal justice system presently operating in Iraq. Eighteen Governorate Councils and a 111-member council of the Kurdistan Regional Government were also elected, the Iraqi Transitional Assembly would, Serve as Iraqs national legislature. It has named a Presidency Council, consisting of a President and this constitution was presented to the Iraqi people for their approval in a national referendum in October 2005. Under the new constitution, Iraq would elect a permanent government in December 2005 as new elections were held for the Council of Representatives of Iraq. Under the Transitional Administrative Law, signed March 2004, the executive branch was led by a three-person presidential council. The election system for the council effectively ensures that all three of Iraqs major ethnic / religious groups are represented
16.
Iraqi parliamentary election, December 2005
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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. The elections took place under a list system, whereby voters chose from a list of parties,230 seats were apportioned among Iraqs 18 governorates based on the number of registered voters in each as of the January 2005 elections, including 59 seats for Baghdad Governorate. The seats within each governorate were allocated to lists through a system of Proportional Representation, an additional 45 compensatory seats were allocated to those parties whose percentage of the national vote total exceeds the percentage of the 275 total seats that they have been allocated. Women were required to occupy 25% of the 275 seats, the change in the voting system would give more weight to Arab Sunni voters, who make up most of the voters in several provinces. It was expected that these provinces would thus return mostly Sunni Arab representatives, president Bush frequently pointed to the election as a sign of progress in rebuilding Iraq. However, post-election violence threatened to plunge the nation into civil war, the election results themselves produced a shaky coalition government headed by Nouri al-Maliki. Final uncertified results were released by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq on Friday 20 January 2006, certified results are expected to be released within two weeks, after the adjudication of any appeals and after lists have submitted the names of people who will take the seats. 1The KIU contested the election as part of the main Kurdish alliance. The election is expected to have a significant impact on the politics of Iraq and this election will see the participation of two important groups - the Sunnis and the Sadrists - who did not participate significantly in the prior legislative elections. The domestic component of the insurgency has been linked to both groups, the elected Council of Representatives will have the difficult task of ratifying a constitution. All three main communities will go into these elections with at least two significant coalitions to choose from, parties have split from both the main Shia and Kurdish coalitions and two lists from the Sunni community are tipped to win significant support in that community. This time the authorities have refused to back the Alliance. However, religious voters may prefer to vote for Sadr rather than casting their vote for Allawi, some predicted that if there wasnt a balance of representation between Sunnis and Shias, that the country was at risk of increased insurgency and perhaps civil war. The current insurgency, lacking the command and control infrastructure needed for large military operations, is not equipped to stage more than a haphazard guerrilla campaign. The deadline for registering parties and coalitions closed on 28 October, the Electoral Commission announced that 228 lists had been registered, including 21 coalitions. The emerging Iraqi political scene has been marked by groups of established parties running on joint lists, often grouped on sectarian or ethnic grounds. The landscape is fluid, what follows is a list of some of the more important parties and coalitions. This coalition, dominated by Shiite parties, was formed to contest the January 2005 election with the blessing of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and it won the most votes in that election and became the senior partner in the coalition government that ran Iraq for most of 2005
17.
Iraqi parliamentary election, 2010
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A parliamentary election was held in Iraq on 7 March 2010. The election decided the 325 members of the Council of Representatives of Iraq who would elect the Iraqi Prime Minister, the State of Law Coalition, led by incumbent Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, was the second largest grouping with 89 seats. Prior to the election, the Supreme Court in Iraq ruled that the existing electoral law/rule was unconstitutional, on 15 January 2010, the Independent High Electoral Commission banned 499 candidates from the election due to alleged links with the Baath Party. The turnout was low compared to the elections of 2005, there were numerous allegations of fraud, and a recount of the votes in Baghdad was ordered on 19 April 2010. On 14 May IHEC announced that after 11,298 ballot boxes had been recounted, the new parliament opened on 14 June 2010. After months of negotiations, an agreement was reached on the formation of a new government on 11 November. Talabani would continue as president, Al-Maliki would stay on as prime minister, the necessary election law was only passed on 8 November 2009, and the UN Mission in Iraq, which is helping with the elections, estimated that it needed 90 days to plan for the election. The electoral commission asked for a delay from the date of 15 January. Iraqi Vice President Tariq Al-Hashimi vetoed the law on 18 November 2009, delaying the election. Prior to the election, the Supreme Court in Iraq ruled that the existing electoral rule was unconstitutional, the parliament therefore set about drafting a new electoral law. The Iraqi cabinet approved a draft law in September 2009. However, it took two months and ten delays for the law to pass in the Council of Representatives, UNAMI advised the electoral system was changed to allow people to vote for individuals as well as party lists under the open list form of proportional representation. The last national elections had used a closed list system, in the end, all parties except for the Kurdistani Alliance agreed to support open lists which was adopted. In Kirkuk Governorate, it was proposed to use old 2004 electoral rolls, however, Kurds protested about this, given the large number of Kurdish people who had settled there since then. UNAMI then proposed that Kirkuk be divided into two or more constituencies, with the Kurdish constituency given an automatic quota of 50% plus one. When put to parliament, this proposal was blocked by Arab MPs, the issue was referred to the Political Council for National Security, which comprises the President, Prime Minister and party leaders. The Council proposed to combine the electoral rolls from 2004 and 2009, UNAMI then proposed using the 2009 records but revisiting for future elections. When put to a vote the Kurdish MPs walked out, leaving the parliament without a quorum, the law was passed by a vote of 141 to 54, with 80 members absent
18.
Iraqi parliamentary election, 2014
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Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 30 April 2014. The elections decided the 328 members of the Council of Representatives who will in turn elect the Iraqi President, the open list form of party-list proportional representation, using the governorates as the constituencies, is the electoral system used. Eight seats remain reserved for minority groups at the level, five for Assyrians and one each for Mandaeans, Yezidis. Prior to the elections, the parliament decided to expand from 325 to 328, as with the 2010 elections,8 seats were reserved for ethnic and religious minorities. Unlike previous elections, there were no seats, reserved seats that previously favorited big-time parties. The campaign was expected to focus on competition within the three religious and ethnic communities, Shiite Arabs, Sunni Arabs and Kurds. This reduced the incentive for parties to form broad coalitions prior to the election, so in November 2011, Iraqs Independent High Electoral Commission approved 276 political entities to run in the elections, including a number of coalitions. Shiite Arabs were split between the Prime Ministers State of Law Coalition, the Sadrist al-Ahrar Bloc, and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq backed al-Muwatin coalition. As members of the security forces voted on Monday 28 April, six different polling stations were hit by suicide bombers, insurgent group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has threatened violence against Sunni Muslims who vote in the election. The IHEC confirmed the results on 25 May
19.
Iraqi governorate elections, 2005
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Governorate council elections were held in Iraq on 30 January 2005, the same day as the elections for the transitional Iraqi National Assembly. Each province has a 41-member council, except for Baghdad, whose council has 51 members, a summary of the results by governorate was, The council elected Maamoon Sami Rasheed al-Alwani as governor. The council elected Salem al-Saleh Meslmawe as the governor, the council elected SCIRI member, Hussain al-Tahan as governor. The council elected Fadhila member Mohammed al-Waili as governor, in April 2007, SIIC successfully brought a no-confidence motion against Waili. This dismissal was ratified by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in July, the council elected Aziz Kadum Alwan al-Ogheli, a SCIRI member, as governor. The council elected Raad Hameed Al-Mula Jowad Al-Tamimi, a Badr Brigades leader, source - http, //www. washingtoninstitute. org/html/newsletterImages/PF81Annexes. pdf The council elected SCIRI member Uqeil al-Khazaali as governor. The council re-elected Abdulrahman Mustapha Fatah as governor, who had served since the 2003 invasion of Iraq Adel Mahudar Radi, the Governorate Council elected SCIRI member Mohammed Ali al-Hasani as the provincial Governor, and an Islamic Dawa Party member, Ahmad Marzouq Salal as the council president. Al-Hasani was assassinated in August 2007 in an attack blamed on the Mahdi Army, the council elected SCIRI member Asaad Abu Gilel al-Taie as governor. The council voted for the independent Sunni Arab, Duraid Kashmoula, the Governorate Council chose SCIRI members Khalil Jalil Hamza as the governor and Sheikh Hamid al-Khodari as council president. Hamza was assassinated in August 2007 in an attack blamed on the Mahdi Army, al-Khodari was elected to replace Hamza as governor. The council elected Hamed Hamood Shekti al-Qaisi as governor, the council elected Latif Hamid Turfa, a Sadrist, as governor. The council voted for Kurdistan Democratic Party member Nawzad Hadi Mawlood to become governor, the council elected KDP member Tamar Ramadan as governor. The council elected PUK member Dana Ahmed Majid as governor, Governorate elections held in Iraq on 31 January 2005 Parties Provincial Politics in Iraq - Freagmentation or Awakening. Washington Institute, 2008-04-01, accessed on 2009-01-12
20.
Iraqi governorate elections, 2009
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14,431 candidates - including 3,912 women - contested 440 seats. The candidates came from over 400 parties - 75% of which were newly formed, in February 2008, the Iraqi Parliament passed a Provincial Powers Act by a majority of one, with many members of parliament not present at the proceedings. The Act required a Provincial Elections Law to be passed within the next 90 days, the Presidency Council initially referred the law back, saying it did not comply with the constitutional rights of governorates. It was reported that vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, whose Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council party is strong in many southern Iraqi governorate councils, particularly objected. However, the Council reversed its position following protests from the Sadrist Movement, in July 2008 the Iraqi Election Commission proposed postponing the elections until December because delays in passing the election law had left too little time to prepare. The second draft was ratified by the Presidency Council on 7 October 2008, a minority clause was added on 3 November. The original draft proposed delaying the election in Kirkuk Governorate until after the referendum to decide its precise status has been held. However, a group of Turkmen and Arab MPs proposed a clause, establishing a provincial council consisting of ten Kurds, ten Arabs, ten Turkmens. The law was approved on 22 July 2008. Parliamentary summer recess started on 30 July 2008, but a special session was called for 3 August 2008 to find a solution to the Kirkuk issue. At that meeting, no solution was reached, at another meeting on 4 August 2008, lawmakers postponed the session to 5 August 2008 and it was then postponed to 9 September 2008, with a committee working on a compromise solution until then. At that session, no resolution was reached, and negotiations continued on 10 September 2008 in the form of a special six-member panel formed for this occasion, a special panel was to work on a solution on Kirkuk and report back by 31 March 2009. Under Article 50 of the draft Elections law, religious minorities such as Christians and this clause was removed in the final draft, with legislators citing a lack of census data for determining the appropriate number of seats. A minority clause was added on 3 November 2008, although it provided for six special seats instead of twelve as recommended by the UN. The Christians got a seat each in Baghdad, Nineveh, and Basra, the Yazidi and Shabak in Nineveh, original drafts of the Election law included a guarantee that the elected councils would contain at least 25% women. However, the law passed stated instead that there would be a woman at the end of three winners. The Electoral Commission has interpreted this to mean that where a list wins more than two seats in a particular governorate, the seat will be awarded to a woman on the partys list. Given the large number of parties contesting the election, many of whom are expected to win one or two seats, female MPs raised concerns that the change in language has weakened this provision
21.
Iraqi governorate elections, 2013
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Governorate or provincial elections were held in Iraq on 20 April 2013, to replace the local councils in the governorates of Iraq that were elected in the Iraqi governorate elections of 2009. Elections took place in 12 of Iraqs 18 governorates, elections didnt take place in the 3 governorates forming the Kurdistan Region or Kirkuk, Anbar, or Ninevah, meaning that a total of 378 provincial council seats were up for election. Elections for Anbar and Nineveh were held on 20 June, there have been several disputes about the electoral law that is to be used for the election. The current electoral law, which was used in the 2009 election, states that if certain parties dont get enough votes, their votes. In the 2009 election this led to smaller parties failing to take any seats. Because of the disproportionate affect this law had on smaller parties, in spite of this ruling, and mostly due to the fact that because the law benefits the largest parties they have little incentive to change it, the law has yet to be changed. If not changed, the nature of the law however would make the 2013 election results vulnerable to a legal challenge. As a result, although this does not currently effect the work of the Independent High Electoral Commission, in response to this, on 13 December 2012 the Iraqi parliament voted to adopt the Sainte-Laguë method as the new electoral method. Parties and candidates wishing to stand for election had to register by the deadline of 25 November 2012, by the time of the deadline 243 entities, including 16 independent candidates, had registered, with some of the entities registering to participate for the first time. Despite the massive size of the coalition, it is exclusively Shiite. According to IHEC, a total of 8,224 candidates registered to run in the elections, with 87-90% of the vote counted, the results were as following
22.
Iraqi constitutional referendum, 2005
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The electorate of Iraq went to the polls on 15 October 2005 to vote in a referendum on whether or not to ratify the proposed constitution of Iraq. After 10 days of counting votes, the electoral commission announced that the constitution had been approved by a wide margin nationwide. A number of critics allege massive irregularities, especially in the province of Ninawa. Article 61 of Iraqs Interim Constitution, in effect since 28 June 2004, opponents of the Draft Constitution reacted angrily to this reinterpretation of Article 61 of the Interim Constitution. After much international criticism, the decision was reversed on 5 October, however, support for the constitution was weakest among Iraqs Sunni Arab community, and some observers thought that the Sunni vote would result in the constitutions rejection. Voting took place as planned on 15 October, amidst heavy security, initially, Iraqi election officials had hoped that results of the balloting would be made public by October 19. On 17 October, however, election officials announced that questions concerning the turnout in some provinces required that the vote be audited, a sandstorm in central Iraq has also contributed to the delay. Although Sunni politician Saleh al-Mutlaq has alleged fraud, election monitors from the United Nations said that the vote went well, on 25 October, Electoral Commission officials released the final results, which indicated that the constitution had been approved. Overall, 79% of voters backed the charter and 21% opposed it, of 18 governorates, only two recorded No votes greater than two thirds – one province short of a veto. Turnout in the referendum was 63%, commission officials had said previously, with the approval of the constitution, elections for a permanent government must be held no later than 15 December 2005, with the new government assuming office no later than 31 December 2005. If the constitution had been rejected, the National Assembly would have dissolved. During this election, security detainees held by forces and the Ministry of Interior were given the opportunity to vote. This is the first time in the history of the Middle East that detainees of this nature were allowed to vote in any election. S. Institute of Peace Special Report, December 2005
23.
Foreign relations of Jordan
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The foreign relations of Jordan have consistently followed a pro-Western foreign policy and traditionally Jordan has had close relations with the United States and the United Kingdom. These relations were damaged when Jordan proclaimed its neutrality during the Gulf War, in public, Jordan continued to call for the lifting of UN sanctions against Iraq within the context of implementing UNIC resolutions. Since the end of the war, Jordan has largely restored its relations with Western countries through its participation in the Middle East peace process, Jordan signed a nonbelligerency agreement with Israel in Washington, DC, on July 25,1994. Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty on October 26,1994, witnessed by President Clinton. In 1996, the United States added Jordan to their major non-NATO ally agreement, Jordan also participates in the multilateral peace talks, and recently Jordan has signed a free trade agreement with the United States. Jordan is a member of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Non-Aligned Movement and this Action Plan covers a timeframe of three to five years and will encourage and support Jordan’s national reform objectives and further integration into European economic and social structures. Israel captured Jerusalem in 1967, which is located at the West Bank of Jordan, since 1967 Pakistan has been demanding its vacation at the international level. Jordan together with Pakistan is playing a role in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. In May 2008, King Abdullah II visited Brunei, to bolster ties between Jordan and the southeast Asian nation, as well as issues facing the Muslim world. Along with Sultan of Brunei Darussalam, Abdullah signed agreements devised to enhance cooperation in the economic, tourism, Denmark has an embassy in Amman Jordan is represented in Denmark, through its embassy in Bonn, Germany Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1994. The Holy See has a nunciature in Amman, Jordan has an embassy in Rome. The Holy See has maintained good relations with Jordan. The name of the country comes from the Jordan River, which is significant to Christians because it was the place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Various Christian clerics in the Arab world have a Jordanian background, such as Maroun Lahham in Tunisia, Indian tourists visited Jordan in large numbers in 2010, with nearly 51,000 visitors. Apart from this, military, cultural and economic exchanges between the two nations is widespread, quoting the Indian Foreign Ministry, India was the largest export partner and ninth largest import partner of Jordan in 2008. In 2010, the India-Jordan trade volume stood at US$1.16 billion i. e. India’s exports to Jordan stood at US$382 million in 2010 while imports were to the tune of US$783 million in 2010. In the face of repeated attacks and threats, Jordan has maintained a diplomatic presence in Baghdad. The economic impact of the Iraq crisis in Jordan has been mixed, however, with the fall of Saddam Hussein, Jordan lost the sizable oil subsidies and customary shipments it received from Iraq
24.
Iraqi passport
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The Iraqi passport is issued to citizens of Iraq for international travel. The new A series of passports began circulating on February 1,2010, previous series issued by passport offices in Iraq and diplomatic representatives worldwide include the S non-machine-readable series, and the G series. There are 4 different passport types, regular - Issuable to all citizens of the Republic of Iraq. It is valid for 8 or 4 years depending on the age of the passport applicant/holder and those passports are not extendable or renewable and new one must be obtained once expired. Diplomatic - Issuable to Iraqi diplomats accredited overseas and their eligible dependents, title and function of the bearer is listed on the data page of the Diplomatic Passport in addition to the information already contained. It is valid for five years, Official Passports can be issued to other government officials that are to travel abroad, with prior approval, as well as to their spouses and children living in the same household. Title and function of the bearer is listed on the page of the Official Passport in addition to the information already contained. It is valid for five years, special - Is issued to a Iraqi Citizen who needs to come back into Iraq, when issued it is valid for 30 days or until the return trip is completed and can be issued at a Iraqi Diplomatic Mission. In 2016, Iraqi citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 30 countries and territories, Visa policy of Iraq Visa requirements for Iraqi citizens Iraqi nationality law Iraq National Card
25.
Saddam Hussein
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Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. In the early 1970s, Saddam nationalized oil and other industries, the state-owned banks were put under his control, leaving the system eventually insolvent mostly due to the Iran–Iraq War, the Gulf War, and UN sanctions. Through the 1970s, Saddam cemented his authority over the apparatuses of government as oil money helped Iraqs economy to grow at a rapid pace, positions of power in the country were mostly filled with Sunni Arabs, a minority that made up only a fifth of the population. Saddam formally rose to power in 1979, although he had been the de facto head of Iraq for several years prior. He suppressed several movements, particularly Shia and Kurdish movements, seeking to overthrow the government or gain independence, and maintained power during the Iran–Iraq War and the Gulf War. Whereas some in the Arab world lauded Saddam for his opposition to the United States, the total number of Iraqis killed by the security services of Saddams government in various purges and genocides is unknown, but the lowest estimate is 250,000. Saddams Baath party was disbanded and elections were held, following his capture on 13 December 2003, the trial of Saddam took place under the Iraqi Interim Government. On 5 November 2006, Saddam was convicted of charges of crimes against humanity related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shiites and his execution was carried out on 30 December 2006. His mother, Subha Tulfah al-Mussallat, named her newborn son Saddam and he is always referred to by this personal name, which may be followed by the patronymic and other elements. He never knew his father, Hussein Abd al-Majid, who disappeared six months before Saddam was born, shortly afterward, Saddams 13-year-old brother died of cancer. The infant Saddam was sent to the family of his maternal uncle Khairallah Talfah until he was three and his mother remarried, and Saddam gained three half-brothers through this marriage. His stepfather, Ibrahim al-Hassan, treated Saddam harshly after his return, at about age 10, Saddam fled the family and returned to live in Baghdad with his uncle Kharaillah Talfah. Later in his relatives from his native Tikrit became some of his closest advisors and supporters. Under the guidance of his uncle he attended a high school in Baghdad. After secondary school Saddam studied at an Iraqi law school for three years, dropping out in 1957 at the age of 20 to join the revolutionary pan-Arab Baath Party, during this time, Saddam apparently supported himself as a secondary school teacher. Revolutionary sentiment was characteristic of the era in Iraq and throughout the Middle East, in Iraq progressives and socialists assailed traditional political elites. Moreover, the nationalism of Gamal Abdel Nasser in Egypt profoundly influenced young Baathists like Saddam. The rise of Nasser foreshadowed a wave of revolutions throughout the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s, with the collapse of the monarchies of Iraq, Egypt, and Libya
26.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
27.
Invasion of Kuwait
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The Invasion of Kuwait on August 2,1990 was a 2-day operation conducted by Iraq against the neighboring state of Kuwait, which resulted in the seven-month-long Iraqi occupation of Kuwait. These events came to be known as the first Gulf War and resulted in the expulsion of Iraqi forces from Kuwait and the Iraqis setting 600 Kuwaiti oil wells on fire during their retreat. The invasion started on 2 August 1990, and within two days most of the Kuwait Armed Forces were either overrun by the Iraqi Republican Guard or fell back to neighboring Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The State of Kuwait was annexed, and Saddam Hussein announced a few days later that it was the 19th province of Iraq, when the Iran-Iraq War broke out, Kuwait initially stayed neutral and also tried mediating between Iran and Iraq. In 1982, Kuwait along with other Arab states of the Persian Gulf supported Iraq in order to curb Iranian Revolutionary government, in 1982–1983, Kuwait began sending significant financial aid to Iraq. Kuwaits large-scale economic assistance to Iraq often triggered hostile Iranian actions against Kuwait, Iran repeatedly targeted Kuwaiti oil tankers in 1984 and fired weapons at Kuwaiti security personnel stationed on Bubiyan island in 1988. During the Iran–Iraq War, Kuwait functioned as Iraqs major port once Basra was shut down by the fighting. By the time the Iran–Iraq War ended, Iraq was not in a position to repay the US$14 billion it borrowed from Kuwait to finance its war. Iraq argued that the war had prevented the rise of Iranian hegemony in Kuwait, however, Kuwaits reluctance to pardon the debt created strains in the relationship between the two countries. During late 1989, several meetings were held between the Kuwaiti and Iraqi leaders but they were unable to break the deadlock between the two. Chalabi argued that oil prices would help Iraq increase its revenues. Throughout much of the 1980s, Kuwaits oil production was considerably above its mandatory OPEC quota, a lack of consensus among OPEC members undermined Iraqs efforts to end the oil glut and consequently prevented the recovery of its war-crippled economy. It was estimated that between 1985 and 1989, Iraq lost US$14 billion a year due to Kuwaits oil price strategy, Kuwaits refusal to decrease its oil production was viewed by Iraq as an act of aggression against it. The increasingly tense relations between Iraq and Kuwait were further aggravated when Iraq alleged that Kuwait was slant-drilling across the border into Iraqs Rumaila field. The dispute over Rumaila field started in 1960 when an Arab League declaration marked the Iraq–Kuwait border 2 miles north of the southernmost tip of the Rumaila field, during the Iran–Iraq War, Iraqi oil drilling operations in Rumaila declined while Kuwaits operations increased. In 1989, Iraq accused Kuwait of using advanced drilling techniques to exploit oil from its share of the Rumaila field, Iraq estimated that US$2.4 billion worth of Iraqi oil was stolen by Kuwait and demanded compensation. Kuwait dismissed the accusations as a false Iraqi ploy to justify military action against it, several foreign firms working in the Rumaila field also dismissed Iraqs slant-drilling claims as a smokescreen to disguise Iraqs more ambitious intentions. Many westerners believed that Iraqs invasion of Kuwait was largely motivated by its desire to control over the latters vast oil reserves
28.
Gulf War
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The Iraqi Armys occupation of Kuwait that began 2 August 1990 was met with international condemnation, and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. US President George H. W. Bush deployed US forces into Saudi Arabia, an array of nations joined the coalition, the largest military alliance since World War II. The great majority of the military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost, the war was marked by the introduction of live news broadcasts from the front lines of the battle, principally by the US network CNN. The war has also earned the nickname Video Game War after the daily broadcast of images from cameras on board US bombers during Operation Desert Storm. The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began with an aerial and naval bombardment on 17 January 1991 and this was followed by a ground assault on 24 February. This was a victory for the coalition forces, who liberated Kuwait. The coalition ceased its advance, and declared a ceasefire 100 hours after the campaign started. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, Iraq launched Scud missiles against coalition military targets in Saudi Arabia and against Israel. The following names have been used to describe the conflict itself, Gulf War, a problem with these terms is that the usage is ambiguous, having now been applied to at least three conflicts, see Gulf War. The use of the term Persian Gulf is also disputed, see Persian Gulf naming dispute, with no consensus of naming, various publications have attempted to refine the name. Other language terms include French, la Guerre du Golfe and German, Golfkrieg, German, Zweiter Golfkrieg, French, most of the coalition states used various names for their operations and the wars operational phases. Operation Desert Storm was the US name of the conflict from 17 January 1991. Operation Desert Sabre was the US name for the offensive against the Iraqi Army in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations from 24–28 February 1991, in itself. Operation Desert Farewell was the given to the return of US units and equipment to the US in 1991 after Kuwaits liberation. Operation Granby was the British name for British military activities during the operations, Opération Daguet was the French name for French military activities in the conflict. Operation Friction was the name of the Canadian operations Operazione Locusta was the Italian name for the operations, in addition, various phases of each operation may have a unique operational name. The US divided the conflict into three campaigns, Defense of Saudi Arabian country for the period 2 August 1990, through 16 January 1991
29.
Arab world
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The Arab world, also known as the Arab nation or the Arab states, consists of the 22 Arabic-speaking countries of the Arab League. The contemporary Arab world has a population of around 422 million inhabitants. In the Middle Ages, the Arab world was synonymous with the historic Arab empires and caliphates, Arab nationalism arose in the second half of the 19th century along with other nationalist movements within the Ottoman Empire. The Arab League was formed in 1945 to represent the interests of Arab people and especially to pursue the political unification of the Arab countries, the linguistic and political denotation inherent in the term Arab is generally dominant over genealogical considerations. In Arab states, Modern Standard Arabic is the language used by the government. The language of a nation is called Darija, which means everyday/colloquial language. Although no globally accepted definition of the Arab world exists, all countries that are members of the Arab League are generally acknowledged as being part of the Arab world. This standard territorial definition is seen to be inappropriate or problematic. These parameters may be applied to the states and territories of the Arab League, typical parameters that may be applied include, whether Arabic is widely spoken, whether Arabic is an official or national language, or whether an Arabic cognate language is widely spoken. While Arabic dialects are spoken in a number of Arab League states, several states have declared Arabic to be an official or national language, although Arabic is today not as widely spoken there. As members of the Arab League, however, they are considered part of the Arab world under the territorial definition. Somalia has two official languages today, Arabic and Somali, both of which belong to the larger Afro-Asiatic language family, although Arabic is widely spoken by many people in the north, Somali is the most widely used language, and contains many Arabic loan words. Similarly, Djibouti has two languages, Arabic and French. It also has several formally recognized national languages, besides Somali, many people speak Afar, the majority of the population speaks Somali and Afar, although Arabic is also widely used for trade and other activities. Comoros has three languages, Arabic, Comorian and French. Comorian is the most widely spoken language, with Arabic having a religious significance, Israel is not part of the Arab world. By some definitions, Arab citizens of Israel may concurrently be considered a constituent part of the Arab world, Iran has about 1.5 million Arabic speakers. Iranian Arabs are mainly found in Ahvaz, a region in the Khuzestan Province, others inhabit the Bushehr Qushasha and Hipi-Lipi Hormozgan provinces
30.
Western world
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The Western world or the West is a term usually referring to different nations, depending on the context, most often including at least part of Europe. There are many accepted definitions about what they all have in common, the Western world is also known as the Occident. The concept of the Western part of the earth has its roots in Greco-Roman civilization in Europe, before the Cold War era, the traditional Western viewpoint identified Western Civilization with the Western Christian countries and culture. Its political usage was changed by the antagonism during the Cold War in the mid-to-late 20th Century. The term originally had a literal geographic meaning, Western culture was influenced by many older great civilizations of the ancient Near East, such as Phoenicia, Minoan Crete, Sumer, Babylonia, and also Ancient Egypt. It originated in the Mediterranean basin and its vicinity, Greece, over time, their associated empires grew first to the east and west to include the rest of Mediterranean and Black Sea coastal areas, conquering and absorbing. Later, they expanded to the north of the Mediterranean Sea to include Western, Central, numerous times, this expansion was accompanied by Christian missionaries, who attempted to proselytize Christianity. There is debate among some as to whether Latin America is in a category of its own, specifically, Western culture may imply, a Biblical Christian cultural influence in spiritual thinking, customs and either ethic or moral traditions, around the Post-Classical Era and after. European cultural influences concerning artistic, musical, folkloric, ethic and oral traditions, the concept of Western culture is generally linked to the classical definition of the Western world. In this definition, Western culture is the set of literary, scientific, political, artistic, much of this set of traditions and knowledge is collected in the Western canon. The term has come to apply to countries whose history is marked by European immigration or settlement, such as the Americas, and Oceania. The geopolitical divisions in Europe that created a concept of East and West originated in the Roman Empire, Roman Catholic Western and Central Europe, as such, maintained a distinct identity particularly as it began to redevelop during the Renaissance. Even following the Protestant Reformation, Protestant Europe continued to see itself as more tied to Roman Catholic Europe than other parts of the civilized world. Use of the term West as a cultural and geopolitical term developed over the course of the Age of Exploration as Europe spread its culture to other parts of the world. Additionally, closer contacts between the West and Asia and other parts of the world in recent times have continued to cloud the use, herodotus considered the Persian Wars of the early 5th century BC a conflict of Europa versus Asia. The terms West and East were not used by any Greek author to describe that conflict, the Great Schism and the Fourth Crusade confirmed this deviation. The Renaissance in the West emerged partly from currents within the Roman Empire, Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a city-state founded on the Italian Peninsula about the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. In its 12-century existence, Roman civilization shifted from a monarchy, to a republic, nonetheless, despite its great legacy, a number of factors led to the eventual decline of the Roman Empire
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Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
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Saudi Arabia
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Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south. It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba and it is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast and most of its terrain consists of arid desert and mountains. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four regions, Hejaz, Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud and he united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been a monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called the predominant feature of Saudi culture, with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called the Land of the Two Holy Mosques in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the state has a total population of 28.7 million, of which 20 million are Saudi nationals and 8 million are foreigners. The states official language is Arabic, petroleum was discovered on 3 March 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia has since become the worlds largest oil producer and exporter, controlling the second largest oil reserves. The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Index and is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies. However, the economy of Saudi Arabia is the least diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the state has attracted criticism for its treatment of women and use of capital punishment. Saudi Arabia is an autocracy, has the fourth highest military expenditure in the world. Saudi Arabia is considered a regional and middle power, in addition to the GCC, it is an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC. Following the unification of the Hejaz and Nejd kingdoms, the new state was named al-Mamlakah al-ʻArabīyah as-Suʻūdīyah by royal decree on 23 September 1932 by its founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud. Although this is translated as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in English it literally means the Saudi Arab kingdom. Its inclusion expresses the view that the country is the possession of the royal family. Al Saud is an Arabic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning family of or House of, in the case of the Al Saud, this is the father of the dynastys 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud. There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 125,000 years ago
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Syria
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Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
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