Ghazi Mashal Ajil Al-Yawer - Presidency

Presidency

After the toppling of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, Sheikh al-Yawar returned to Iraq at the request of his uncle, Mohsen al-Yawar. Following the assassination of Iraqi Governing Council President Ezzedine Salim on May 17, 2004, Sheikh Ghazi assumed the May rotating presidency for the Governing Council. During his term as interim president, leading up to the dissolution of the Governing Council, al-Yawar spoke out against the misperception that Arab Sunnis in Iraq enjoyed huge privileges under Saddam Hussein's rule. Al-Yawar adamantly affirmed that "Saddam did not believe in any religion or sect – his injustices were inflicted on Sunnis, Shi'is, Kurds and all other national groups and sects. He did not differentiate between one Iraqi and another."

Al-Yawar was scheduled to be the last holder of the rotating council presidency, with a term lasting until June 30, 2004, the date of the expected transition to official Iraqi sovereignty. Instead, he was chosen at an earlier date to be Iraq's formal Head of State, and occupy the largely symbolic post of "State President" of Iraq. Adnan Pachachi was preferred by UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, but most members of the Governing Council had favored Mr. al-Yawar. Members of the council had accused the UN of trying to impose a new Iraqi president against their wishes. The dispute delayed the announcement of the interim government that would lead Iraq from the end of the month, but on June 1, 2004 the special envoy to Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi, confirmed Sheikh Ghazi's appointment as interim president. Ayad Allawi, who served as Prime Minister during al-Yawar's presidency, is a Shiite Muslim. The two collectively represented Iraq's largest Muslim sects. Al-Yawar and the Iraqi Interim Government were sworn in on June 28, 2004, when the U.S.-led coalition handed over power two days early.

Sheikh Ghazi's selection as interim president, at first resisted and then accepted by the American administrators in Iraq, is further recognition of the tribal revival at this time. Although this post was described as largely ceremonial, it in fact exercised both symbolic and political sway. As a Sunni tribal leader, he reassured his fellow Sunnis while also representing a familiar type of authority figure for the tribal Kurds, and embodying traditional values esteemed by Shiite religious figures. Faleh A. Jabar, a senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, called Sheikh Ghazi "a tribal figure who knows modern ways, not a modern leader who knows tribal ways. He is clever, cautious in choosing words and values the seniority of age, a supreme value in tribal people. Being a sheikh, you have to give the lead to each and everyone except yourself."

L. Paul Bremer in his memoirs indicated that George W. Bush himself urged the appointment of al-Yawar, as Bush "had been favorably impressed by Ghazi's open thanks to the Coalition for overthrowing Saddam and by his determination to continue the process to sovereignty and eventual democracy."

But to many Iraqis, Sheikh al-Yawar was part of the Governing Council, which had lost virtually all legitimacy after its inability to solve the military and political crisis that had erupted across Iraq in April. Al-Yawar had been openly critical of the sectarian Governing Council, often acknowledging that the council was more focused on survival than on serious issues, adding only to the country's problems. "We sit in the council while the country is burning and argue over procedure," Sheikh Ghazi told the Christian Science Monitor. "We're like the Byzantines in Constantinople, debating whether angels are male or female with the barbarians at the gate." Like Ayad Allawi, the prime minister, and many of the council members appointed to new jobs in the cabinet and ministries, he faced a struggle to live down his role as a former council member.

Al-Yawar proved determined not to appear as a puppet of the Coalition forces. He pulled no punches when criticizing the United States for the dismal lack of security in Iraq. "We blame the United States 100 percent for the security in Iraq," he said. "They occupied the country, disbanded the security agencies and for 10 months left Iraq's borders open for anyone to come in without a visa or even a passport."

In addition, Sheikh Ghazi condoned the U.S. for remaining in Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace presidential compound and converting it to their embassy, as some reports suggested. "This is like someone who pokes his finger in another's eye," he declared.

As the Coalition-led siege in Fallujah peaked during his term as interim president, Sheikh Ghazi openly disparaged the assault that only a few months earlier led him to almost resign from the Governing Council in protest of the Coalition's actions. "I completely disagree with those who see a need to decide the matter through military action," al-Yawar told Reuters. "The Coalition's handling of the crisis is wrong. It's like someone who fired bullets at his horse's head just because a fly landed on it; the horse died and the fly went away." He condemned the actions of the occupation forces, holding them completely accountable (according to the UN resolution) for delivering safety and aid to the Iraqi people.