Masoud Barzani
Masoud Barzani مەسعوود بارزانی | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of Iraqi Kurdistan | |
| Assumed office June 14, 2005 | |
| Vice President | Kosrat Rasul Ali |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 16, 1946 Mahabad, Iran |
| Political party | Kurdistan Democratic Party |
Masoud Barzani (Kurdish: مسعودبارزانی, Mesûd Barzanî) (born August 16, 1946) is the current President of the Iraqi Kurdistan region and the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party. Barzani was born in Mahabad, Iran, during the rule of the Republic of Mahabad. He has five sons (incl. Masrour) and three daughters.
Masoud Barzani succeeded his father, the former Kurdish nationalist leader Mustafa Barzani, as the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in 1979. Working closely with his brother Idriss Barzani until Idriss' untimely death, Barzani was able to continue the Kurdish guerilla struggle through the trying years of the Iran-Iraq War. For much of this time, the Iraqi Kurdish leadership was exiled to Iran.
With Saddam Hussein's defeat in the first Gulf War, the Kurdish dissidents were able to retake much of the traditional homeland of the Kurds in Iraq. However, as Iraqi forces regrouped they pushed Barzani's fighters along with other groups and scores of civilians to the mountains bordering Iran and Turkey. Thousands of Kurds died under heavy fire from Iraqi gunships and many more faced imminent death from starvation and exposure, when the United States-led allies stepped in to open up a no-fly zone over the region during Operation Provide Comfort. This led in 1992 to the establishment of an autonomous Kurdish zone in northern Iraq under the control of the two dominant Kurdish political parties, the KDP led by Masoud Barzani and the PUK led by Jalal Talabani. This zone incorporates the three governates of Dohuk, Erbil, and Sulimeniyah.
Barzani led the KDP in establishing a government in Iraqi Kurdistan with the PUK. After the invasion of Iraq in 2003 he became a member of the Iraqi Governing Council and was the president of the council in April 2004. He was elected as the President of the Iraqi Kurdistan region by the Iraqi Kurdistan's Parliament in June 2005.[1]
In his presidency Mr Barzani has established several institutions in the Kurdistan Region to develop its emerging democracy, strengthen alliances and improve the decision-making process. In January 2007 he established the Kurdistan Presidency Council, which includes the Deputy President (Mr Kosrat Rasul Ali), the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Kurdistan National Assembly, the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister and the Chief of Staff of the Presidency of the Kurdistan Region.
Mr Barzani also helped to form the Council of Kurdistan Political Parties which he chairs and includes the figureheads of the following political parties in Kurdistan: Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Kurdistan Toilers Party, Kurdistan Democratic Socialist Party, Kurdistan Islamic Union, and Islamic Group of Kurdistan.
As President of the Kurdistan Region, Masoud Barzani has made official visits to several countries including: meeting with US President George Bush at the White House (25 October 2005), UK Prime Minister Tony Blair at Downing Street (31 October 2005), The Pope at the Vatican (14 November 2005), Italian Prime Minister Belrescuni in Rome (13 November 2005), King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh (13 March 2007) and King Abdullah of Jordan in Amman (19 March 2007). [2]
The Barzani family is often accused by some observers, like Michael Rubin, of corruption and nepotism. The Barzanis are known to have amassed a considerable fortune after 1991, owning or controlling a large number of businesses, including the KOREK mobile phone company, several department stores and a chain of hotels. A recent estimate puts the Barzani family fortune at 2 billion USD. [3]
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