Ghazi Mashal Ajil Al-Yawer - Background

Background

Born in Mosul, Iraq, al-Yawar completed his primary and secondary education in Iraq. He then went on to study in King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) for two years before completing his BSc in the UK. Al-Yawar enrolled in an English language program at American University in Washington, D.C. and then received his masters from George Washington University in the mid 1980s.

The House of Yawar has been the head of the Shammar tribe for centuries. The Shammar is one of Iraq's biggest tribal confederations with more than 1.5 million people covering vast territories from Iraq into Syria and Saudi Arabia. Composed of both Sunnis and Shiites, the Shammar are generally religiously and politically moderate. "My mother would take me to visit the holy shrines in Najaf and Karbala, in addition to the Sunni mosques in Baghdad and St. Mary's Church," Yawar told the Iraqi paper Al-Zaman.

His uncle, Sheikh Mohsen Ajil al-Yawar, is the current head of the Shammar tribe and his grandfather played a role in guiding Iraq towards independence in the 1920s, later serving as a member of the king's parliament. When Mr. al-Yawar's uncle refused to sanction Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 the family went into exile in London. Al-Yawar, who was then residing in Saudi Arabia, eschewed politics and instead established a successful telecommunications company. Sheikh Ghazi spent much of the past two decades in Saudi Arabia, where he became vice president of a telecommunications company.