Tariq Najm Abdullah Al Saa'dawi () known as Tariq Najm (born July 1945) was the Chief of Staff for the previous Prime Minister of

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 ...

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 ...

; between 2006 and 2010. He is a senior advisor for the current Iraqi Prime Minister

Haider al-Abadi Haider Jawad Kadhim al-Abadi (; born 25 April 1952) is an Iraqi politician who was Prime Minister of Iraq from September 2014 until October 2018. Previously he served as Minister of Communication from 2003 to 2004, in the first government afte ...

. Najm was born in July 1945 in the city of Ash Shatrah in what was then known as Muntafiq Governorate. He went on to study as an undergraduate at the Faculty Theology at the

University of Baghdad The University of Baghdad (UOB) (, also known as Baghdad University) is a public university, public research university in Baghdad, Iraq. It is the largest university in Iraq and the tenth largest in the Arab world. History The College of Isl ...

. He has been a member of the

Islamic Dawa Party The Islamic Dawa Party () is an Iraqi Shia Islamist political movement that was formed in 1957 by seminarians in Najaf, Iraq, and later formed branches in Lebanon and Kuwait. The Party backed the Iranian Revolution and also Ayatollah Ruholla ...

since the late sixties. He then went on to earn a master's degree and doctorate from the University of Al-Azhar in the Arabic language, before going on to work as a professor at

King Abdul Aziz University King Abdulaziz University (KAU) () is a public research university in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Established in 1967 as a private university by a group of businessmen led by Muhammad Bakhashab and including author Hamza Bogary, it was named after ...

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; , ), is a List of governorates of Saudi Arabia, governorate and the largest city in Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia, and the country's second largest city after Riyadh, located ...

. In 1986 he moved to the United Arab Emirates, teaching at the

United Arab Emirates University United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) () is a public research university located in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. Founded in 1976 by the country's first President, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, it is the oldest university in the United ...

until 1991, when he moved to Yemen and was appointed as a professor at Sana'a University. He worked there until 2001, when he travelled to London and claimed

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

. Following the Invasion of Iraq in April 2003 he returned to Iraq, and became Nouri al-Maliki's Chief of Staff in Maliki's First Government in the summer of 2006. After the poor performance of the Iraqi Army and the resurgence of anti-government militant groups during the 2014 Northern Iraq offensive there were discussions of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki being replaced. Najm was one of the individuals rumoured to be being considered as a replacement. In Najm's favour was his reputation as a mediator, his healthy relationships with Iran, Turkey, and the US, and also his strong relationship with

Ayatollah Sistani Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani (; born 4 August 1930) is an Islamic scholar and the dean of the Hawza of Najaf in Iraq. A Grand Ayatollah, Sistani is considered one of the leading religious leaders of Twelver Shia Muslims. After the invasion of Ir ...

. He is no longer a member of the Iraqi government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Najm, Tariq 1945 births Iraqi politicians Iraqi Shia Muslims Living people