Mohammed Salem Al-Ghabban (

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 ...

: محمد سالم الغبان, born 1961 in

Karrada Karrada district ( ''Karrāda'') is a large district in the city of Baghdad, Iraq. An upper-class district, it is divided into western ( Karkh) and eastern side ( Rusafa) by the Tigris, known as Karrada Maryam and Eastern Karrada respectively. ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

) is an Iraqi politician and the former

Minister of Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

. Al-Ghabban was first elected to the Iraqi Council of Representatives in 2014 as representative for Baghdad. As member of the

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 ...

he went on to be appointed Minister of Interior and was sworn in on 18 October 2014. He was in office until 8 July 2016. In September 2018 he was elected as an MP for Baghdad region in the

Iraqi Parliament The Council of Representatives is the '' de facto'' unicameral legislature of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, it is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the country. As of 2020, it comprises 329 seats and meets in Baghd ...

's 4th term. Currently he's the head of the

Fatah Alliance The Fatah Alliance (), also sometimes translated as the Conquest Alliance, is a political coalition in Iraq formed to contest the 2018 general election. The main components are groups involved in the Popular Mobilization Forces which is mainly ...

bloc in the

and member of the Foreign Committee. Al-Ghabban, who speaks English, graduated from high school in Baghdad in 1979 with a diploma in Modern Management. In 1996, he earned a bachelor's degree in English Studies from

Allameh Tabataba'i University Allameh Tabataba'i University (ATU; �ælɒːˈme tæbɒːtæbɒːˈʔiː, ''Dânešgâh-e allâme Tabâtabâyi'') is the largest and the leading specialized public university in humanities and social sciences in Iran. With 15,624 students and 4 ...

. In 2006, he obtained a master's degree in

Islamic Studies Islamic studies is the academic study of Islam, which is analogous to related fields such as Jewish studies and Quranic studies. Islamic studies seeks to understand the past and the potential future of the Islamic world. In this multidiscipli ...

from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

( Birkbeck). In 2018 he received his

doctorate degree A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

Political Sciences Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

from the

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

Posts

* 2006–2010 ----- Director of the Office to the Chairman of Security and Defence Committee * 2007–2010 ----- Adviser to

Presidency Council of Iraq The Presidency Council of Iraq was an entity that operated under the auspices of the "transitional provisions" of the Constitution of Iraq and previously under the Transitional Administrative Law. The Presidency Council functioned in the role of ...

* 2010–2014 ----- Adviser to Minister of Transport * 2014–2014 ----- Member of

(3rd term) * 2014–2016 ----- Iraq Minister of Interior * 2017–2018 ----- Adviser to PMF office *2018-2019 ----- Member of the Security and Defence Committee of Iraqi Parliament *2018–2022 ----- Member of

(4th term) *2019–2022 ----- Member of the Foreign Relations Committee of Iraqi Parliament *2019–2022 ----- Head of the parliamentary bloc for

in the

Political career

Al-Ghabban joined the Iraqi opposition in 1981 after his detention by Saddam Hussein's

regime In politics, a regime (also spelled régime) is a system of government that determines access to public office, and the extent of power held by officials. The two broad categories of regimes are democratic and autocratic. A key similarity acros ...

in 1979. He actively participated in various activities of the opposition against the former regime whilst in Iraq and in exile. He returned to Iraq shortly after the fall of the former regime, and participated in numerous political initiatives to rebuild what was destroyed by the previous regime. From 2006 to 2010, he was the director of the private office to the Chairman of the Security and Defense committee of the Council of Representatives. In 2010, he was adviser to the Office of

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

. Post 2010 elections, he was nominated for the post of Minister of Transport. From 2010 to 2014 he was the adviser to the Minister of Transport. In 2014, he was elected member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives (3rd term) for the province of Baghdad. In October 2014, Al-Ghabban was nominated for the post of Minister of Interior. On 18 October 2014 he won the majority vote at the council of representatives and was approved as minister of interior by a 197–63 vote. On 5 July 2016, two days after the Baghdad bombing in which 323 civilians died, he resigned in protest at the imbalance in the management of the internal security file and stripping the Ministry of the Interior of its powers by intersection of security authorities.

As Minister of Interior

During his tenure as Minister of Interior, Al-Ghabban worked to identify priorities in the strategic plan for the advancement of the Ministry and to improve the performance of the security services. In less than two years, he managed to initiate some of the most strenuous projects including: * Building the Iraqi Federal Police forces and developing their combat capabilities, arming and re-training. This was reflected in their overwhelming performance and role in the battles against

Daesh The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...

; of which liberation of key cities such as

Fallujah Fallujah ( ) is a city in Al Anbar Governorate, Iraq. Situated on the Euphrates, Euphrates River, it is located roughly to the west of the capital city of Baghdad and from the neighboring city of Ramadi. The city is located in the region ...

and

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

was the most prominent. * Implementation of the Iraqi national ID card project which was stalled for decades. * Priming and qualifying the Interior Ministry to assume its responsibility of national security by working with the Joint Higher Committees at the Ministry of Defense, the Joint Operations Command and the National Security Advisers. (Since 2003, responsibility and management of Iraq's national/ interior security is directly aligned under the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

via the Joint Operations Command (Arabic: العمليات المشتركة في العراق), the Interior Ministry is currently (April 2018) absolved from this authority).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghabban, Mohammed Al- 1961 births Living people University of Tehran alumni Allameh Tabataba'i University alumni Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London Members of the Council of Representatives of Iraq Interior ministers of Iraq Politicians from Baghdad Iraqi Shia Muslims