Aqila al-Hashimi (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

عقيلة الهاشمي ''^cAqīla al-Hāshimī''; 1953 - September 25, 2005) was an

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

i politician who served on the

Iraqi Governing Council The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was the provisional government of Iraq from 13 July 2003 to 1 June 2004. It was established by and served under the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The IGC consisted of various Iraqi ...

. Aqila al-Hashimi was born in 1953 into a prominent

Shi'ite Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to ...

religious family in

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

. She gained a degree in law in Iraq and a doctorate in French Literature at the Sorbonne. She joined the Foreign Ministry in 1979 working as a French translator for

Tariq Aziz Tariq Aziz (, , 28 April 1936 – 5 June 2015) was an Iraq, Iraqi politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq from 1979 to 2003 and Minister of Foreign Affairs (Iraq), Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1983 ...

. Al-Hashimi ran the

Oil-for-Food Programme The Oil-for-Food Programme (OIP) was established by the United Nations in 1995 (under UN Security Council Resolution 986) to allow Iraq to sell oil on the world market in exchange for food, medicine, and other humanitarian needs for ordinary I ...

in the Foreign Ministry under

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

. She was one of only three women on the IGC and the only member of the former regime to have been on the council. She had been expected to become Iraq's new Ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

She died of abdomen wounds suffered five days earlier when her convoy was ambushed by six men in a pickup truck near her home in western Baghdad. The killing was blamed on supporters of the former president,

. The British politician

George Galloway George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer. He has been leader of the Workers Party of Britain since he founded it in 2019, and is a former leader of the Respect Party. Until 2003, he was a member ...

, who was strongly opposed to the war and who referred to attacks on coalition forces as a “bloody good hiding,” discussed her participation in the Governing Council in an interview shortly after her death, saying that although he derived no pleasure from her death, he denounced her role in the Iraqi Governing Council, calling her a "puppet minister."

References

External links

Interview
with the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's Woman's Hour 1953 births 2005 deaths 2005 murders in Iraq University of Paris alumni Assassinated Iraqi politicians People from Najaf People murdered in Iraq 21st-century Iraqi women politicians 21st-century Iraqi politicians Asian politicians assassinated in the 2000s Politicians assassinated in 2005 {{Iraq-politician-stub