Diplomat: Zebari is a consensus candidate for the Presidency of Iraq
The Diplomat who appears to be close to Zebari said that " many political blocs have agreed on the nomination of Foreign Minister for the post of President of the republic , replacing the current President , Jalal Talabani whose session period will end with the start of the new parliamentary session , which will be followed by the results of the recent parliamentary elections ."
The diplomat added that " this consensus is the result of the large role played by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs represented by Zebari in defending the interests of Iraq and making Iraq exit from Chapter VII and the experience and flexibility that he enjoyed in dealing with all the components of Iraq , as well as its positive role in the Arab and international and regional forums thanks to his balance and moderation according to these levels , stressing that the interests of Iraq requires at this critical stage to choose successfully. "
Answering a question about his opinion on previous reports indicated that the President of Kurdistan Region , Massoud Barzani is a candidate to succeed Talabani in the country's presidency , the source said , " This is true , but the region and political circumstances with thorny Baghdad will prevent from giving him this post,” According to Elaf site.
He pointed out that " from this standpoint, Zebari who is Massoud’s uncle remains the best candidate to assume the highest post in the country."
The first nominations for the post of President of the Republic of Iraq have appeared earlier this month since, President Talabani had a stroke in late 2012 and traveled to Germany for treatment, as he is still there , and doctors didn’t advise for his return to his country , as a leader in PUK announced that the governor of Kirkuk , Najim al-Deen Karim is best to succeed him .
But the Presidency of Kurdistan Region responded to this immediately by saying that the presidency of Iraq is a national entitlement for the Kurds , and has stipulated that any candidate for the job must have the approval of Parliament of the region .
According to the political custom non- stipulated in the Constitution, the Kurds took Presidency of the Republic since 2006, the Shiite took Prime Minister post , Presidency of Parliament for Sunnis . A Shiite to take the post of prime minister in the next government formation has became granted , but the other two posts remain unclear, as it might be imposed on the Sunnis and Kurds to exchange these two posts .
It is noteworthy that President Talabani , 80 years old has been suffering for years from health problems , as he had underwent heart surgery in the United States in August 2008, before being transferred after a year to Jordan for treatment due to exhaustion and fatigue. He also went several times last year to the United States and Europe for medical reasons.
Jalal Talabani is the first Kurd to head Iraq's modern history , he has been elected president for a transitional phase in April 2005 and re-elected in April 2010 for a second term for another four years .
Zebari ... Diplomatic march
Hoshyar Mahmud Mohammed Zebari was born in Akra city in the northern province of Nineveh in 1953 . Learned in Mosul and then earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Jordan in 1976 , later earned a master's degree in sociology and development from the University of Essex in Britain in 1989 .
Zebari was responsible for the Student Association of Kurds in Europe and chairman of the foreign students in Britain between 1978 and 1980.. then participated in the Kurdish resistance against the regime in Baghdad during 1980 and 1988.
In 1979 he was elected to the Central Committee of the leadership of Kurdistan Democratic Party , and became an elected member of the political bureau of Kurdistan Democratic Party , led by Barzani, and the High Representative of Kurdistan front in Europe in 1989 , also served as head of foreign relations for Kurdistan Democratic Party during 1988 and 1991.
In 1992 he was elected as a member of the first Kurdish National Assembly, and became head of the Office of International Relations of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) , until being assigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq . During this period, he did some public diplomatic tasks and organized conferences for Iraqi opposition and other media activities .
Zebari became the main negotiator in 1994 in the Kurdish peace process, and contributed to peace talks held in Paris , Ireland, Ankara , London and Washington , that resulted in Washington Convention for peace in 1998 between KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan , led by Talabani.
Then Zebari had been elected in the Executive Council of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) in 1992 , and became head of the international relations of the Iraqi opposition , he had been elected as a member of the Iraqi National Congress in 1999. In 2002 he became a member of the Committee for Coordination and Follow-up of the Iraqi opposition responsible for the Investigation of Media and Public Diplomacy in the United States , Europe , the Arab countries and the neighboring countries of Iraq for several years .
During the period between 3/9/2003 until 27/6/2004 he took the post of Ministry of Foreign affairs for the first time commissioned by the Iraqi Governing Council as the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq after the change.
For the period from 28/6/2004 until 7/4/2005 he was reappointed as Minister of Foreign affairs in the interim Iraqi government headed by Ayad Allawi . For the period from 3/5/2005 until 20/5/2006 , he took the oath as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the transitional government headed by Ibrahim al-Jaafari . Then for the period from 20/5/2006 until 24/11/2010 he took the oath again as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the first constitutionally elected government in Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime , headed by Nuri al-Maliki . On 21 December 2010 he took the legal oath as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the second Iraqi government led by al-Maliki.
