Dhiaa Najm Abdullah Al-Asadi () is an Iraqi academic, politician and head of the

Al-Ahrar Bloc The Al-Ahrar Bloc ( or ''freeones Bloc'') is an Iraqi Shia Islamist political coalition formed for the 2014 Iraqi parliamentary election. It is headed by Dia Najem Abdallah al-Asadi. The mainly Shia movement having the support of religious le ...

in parliament, the second largest parliamentary bloc in the Iraqi Parliament after the

2014 Iraqi parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 30 April 2014. The elections decided the 328 members of the Council of Representatives of Iraq, Council of Representatives who will in turn elect the Iraqi President of Iraq, president and Prime Mini ...

. The Al-Ahrar Bloc is considered a

Sadrist Movement The Sadrist Movement ( ') is an Iraqi Shi'a Islamic national movement and political party, led by Muqtada al-Sadr. The Sadrist Movement ended as largest political party in the October 2021 Iraqi parliamentary election, with 73 seats in Parliamen ...

with cleric

Muqtada al-Sadr Muqtada al-Sadr (; born 4 August 1974) is an Iraqi Shia Muslim cleric, politician and militia leader. He inherited the leadership of the Sadrist Movement from his father, and founded the now dissolved Mahdi Army militia in 2003 that resisted ...

as its spiritual leader. Al-Asadi was born in 1969 in

Basra Governorate Basra Governorate ( ), also called Basra Province, is a governorate in southern Iraq in the region of Arabian Peninsula, bordering Kuwait to the south and Iran to the east. The capital is the city of Basra, located in the Basrah district. Other ...

. He studied English language and literature in the English Department of the College of Education,

University of Basrah The University of Basrah ( ''Jāmi'at Al Basrah'') is a public university situated in the city of Basra, Iraq. Founded in 1964 to meet the needs of southern Iraq, the University of Basrah was at first affiliated with the University of Baghdad, b ...

1989 – 1992. After his graduation with a BA and a first rank among more than 90 students, he worked as a research assistant in the university for three years. Continuing with a master's degree, he was a university instructor for another three years. He was imprisoned in 1999 for political activism after the assassination of Shia cleric Mohammad Mohammed Sadiq Al-Sadr, the cousin of the Shia thinker Mohammed Baqir Al-Sadr, both murdered by Saddam's regime in 1999 and 1980 respectively. Upon release the following year, he sought asylum in Jordan where he also taught English at an

Al-Balqaʼ Applied University Al-Balqa Applied University (BAU) (Arabic جامعة البلقاء التطبيقية) is a government-supported university located in Salt, Jordan, was founded in 1997, a distinctive state university in the field of Bachelor and associate degree ...

for three years and returned to Iraq in 2004 after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. From 2005 to 2006 he worked at the very department he graduated from, then he worked at Basrah Studies Center until 2007 He taught English language and literature at Iraqi universities and earned a fellowship in International Development from The Department of International Development at

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. He was appointed Minister of State in the 2010 Iraqi government, but was removed in a government reshuffle the following year.Buratha news: السيرة الذاتية للامين العام لكتلة الاحرار ضياء الاسدي
In 2011, he was elected as Secretary General of Al-Aharar Bloc and became in charge of all political movement connected to Sadrists in Iraq. In 2014, he stood for National Elections as a representative for voters in the Southern and Northern parts of Baghdad and won a seat in the Parliament and became Head of Al-Ahrar Bloc until 2015. . His bloc went on to win 34 seats in the 2014 Iraqi Parliament making Al Ahrar the first biggest single bloc and the second biggest coalition after Prime Minister

Nouri al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki (; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is an Iraqi politician and leader of the Islamic Dawa Party since 2007. He served as the Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and as Vice President ...

State of Law Coalition State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. Al-Asadi has published several articles and critical essays in Arabic and English; he gave interviews in both languages to local and international channels and media and participated in tens of events and training courses as a participant and a trainer. Among his interests are: painting and calligraphy, writing short stories, and lecturing and public speech.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asadi, Dia Iraqi politicians 1969 births Living people University of Basrah alumni Academic staff of Al-Balqaʼ Applied University