Khaled al-Obaidi

Khaled Yassin al-Obaidi (born 1959) [1] is an Iraqi politician who served as Defense Minister from 2014 to 2016.

Khaled Al-Obaidi
al-Obaidi meets US Secretary of Defence, April 2015
Defense Minister of Iraq
In office
18 October 2014 – 19 August 2016
PresidentFuad Masum
Prime MinisterHaider al-Abadi
Preceded bySaadoun al-Dulaimi
Succeeded byOthman Ghanm (Interim)
Personal details
BornMosul, Iraq
Political partyItihad al-Quwa al-Wataniyah
Alma materUniversity of Baghdad, Keele University
Military service
Branch/service Iraqi Army
RankMajor general

Background

Khalid Yassin al-Obaidi is a Sunni Muslim who was born in Mosul.[2] He belongs to al-Obaidi sunni tribal confederation.[3] al-Obaidi is a member of the Iraqi parliament's Itihad al-Quwa al-Wataniyah bloc.[4] He holds two master's degree in engineering and military science as well as a doctorate in political science.[5] He served in the Iraqi Air Force, specialising in engineering aircraft engines until 2003 when he was appointed as a university professor by the Ministry of Higher Education. He was appointed as the Technical Education Authority by the Ministry of Education in 2007[5][6] and has also served as a security advisor for the President of the parliament. He was nominated for the post of Defense Minister and accepted by the Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki in 2010 but was rejected by Ayad Allawi, the Iraqi National List founder.[7] He was also a Major general in the Iraqi Army.[3]

Defence Minister

On 18 October 2014, he was appointed as the Defence Minister of Iraq.[2] In August 2016, al-Obeidi was voted out of power through a no-confidence vote in the parliament, with majority of lawmakers voting against him over allegations of corruption. He is the first incumbent defence minister to receive a no-confidence vote in Iraq after the invasion of Iraq in 2003.[6][8] Othman Ghanm was appointed to succeed him as the interim Defence Minister by the Iraqi government on 29 August 2016.[9]

In December 2017 an MP reported that an arrest warrant had been issued for al-Obaidi. Warrants were issued for 48 defence officials in total, including the air force commander.[10]

References
  1. "Iran would fully stand by Iraqi govt., nation". Mehr News Agency.
  2. "Iraq MPs approve two key ministers". Al Jazeera. 18 October 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  3. "Khaled al-Obeidi / Khalid al-UBAYDI". GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  4. "Where does tribal influence fit in Iraqi politics?". Al-Monitor. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  5. "Iraqi Prime Minister Abadi's government finally complete". Al Monitor. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  6. "The Sacking of Iraq's Defense Minister". STRATFOR. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  7. Mustafa al-Furati (20 October 2014). "Key ministers appointed to restore security in Iraq". Al-Akhbar. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  8. "Iraqi defense minister gets no-confidence vote amid offensive against ISIS". Haaretz. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
  9. Baxtiyar Goryan (29 August 2016). "Iraqi government assigns interim Defense Minister". Kurdistan24. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
  10. "MP: Arrests ordered for former Iraqi defense minister, air force commander". Iraqi News. 27 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.


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