Ibrahim al-Jaafari

Ibrahim Al-Jaafari (b. 1947?), a Shiite, is the main spokesman for the Islamic Dawa Party which is now based in Iraq. The party, once based in Iran, launched a bloody campaign against Saddam Hussein's regime in the late 1970's, but was crushed in 1982. The group said it lost 77,000 members in its war against Saddam. Born in Karbala, al-Jaafari was educated at Mosul university as a medical doctor.

Brother-in-law of the Shia Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, he was picked in July 2003 as member of the U.S.-backed Iraq Interim Governing Council, a post he held until the council was dissolved on June 1, 2004. In August 2003 he held the monthly rotating presidency of the council. On June 1, 2004, he was selected to be one of the two vice-presidents of Iraq in the new government which will be installed on June 30, 2004.