Baqir Jabr al-Zubeidi

Baqir Jabr Al-Zubeidi (Arabic: باقر جبر الزبيدي, romanized: Bāqir Jarb al-Zabīdī; born 1946), also known as Bayan Jabr Solagh (Arabic: بيان باقر صولاغ, romanized: Bayān Bāqir Sūlāġ), is an Iraqi politician and former commander of the Badr Brigades who served as the Finance Minister of Iraq in the government of Nouri al-Maliki. He served as Minister of Interior, in charge of the police, in the Iraqi Transitional Government and was Minister of Housing and Reconstruction of the Iraqi Governing Council. He is also a senior member of the Shi'a United Iraqi Alliance as well as a leader in the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).^{[citation needed]}

Baqir Jabr al-Zubeidi
باقر جبر الزبيدي
Baqr Al-Zubeidi in 2006.
Minister of Transport
In office September 2014 – August 2016
President	Fuad Masum
Prime Minister	Haider Al-Abadi
Preceded by	Hadi Al-Amiri
Succeeded by	Kazim Finjan Al Hamami
Minister of Finance
In office May 2006 – December 2010
President	Jalal Talabani
Prime Minister	Nouri al-Maliki
Preceded by	Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi
Succeeded by	Rafi al-Issawi
Minister of Interior
In office April 2005 – May 2006
President	Jalal Talabani
Prime Minister	Ibrahim al-Jaafari
Preceded by	Falah Hassan al-Naqib
Succeeded by	Jawad Bulani
Minister of Housing and Reconstruction
In office September 2003 – June 2004
President	Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer
Prime Minister	Iraqi Governing Council
Preceded by	Coalition Provisional Authority
Succeeded by	Omar Farouk
Personal details
Born	1946 (age 77–78) Amara Province, Kingdom of Iraq
Political party	Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq[citation needed]
Alma mater	University of Basra
Occupation	Politician
Nickname	Bayan Jabr Solagh
Military service
Allegiance	Badr Brigades[citation needed]
Commands	Commander of the Badr Brigades[citation needed]

Born in 1946 in the Maysan Governorate, Jabr became a Shi'a activist while studying engineering at Baghdad University in the 1970s. He escaped to Iran amid former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's crackdown on Shi'a political groups and joined the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). He later headed SCIRI's office in Syria. According to the Independent newspaper Jabr was a former commander of SCIRI's militia, the Badr Brigades.

Under Jabr's control, the Interior Ministry in 2006 was accused by the United Nations human rights chief in Iraq, John Pace, of executing and torturing to death hundreds of Iraqis every month.^[1]

On 3 January 2006, his sister was reported kidnapped from Baghdad by Iraqi insurgents. Parts of central Baghdad were locked down as police searched for the woman.^[2] She was released two weeks later after a ransom was paid by him.

References

1. "Iraq's death squads: on the brink of civil war" The Independent, 26 February 2006
2. Knickmeyer, Ellen (3 January 2006). "U.S. Raid Kills Family North of Baghdad". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 January 2013.

External links

• "Iraq's post-war cabinet". BBC News. 1 September 2003. Retrieved 24 February 2006.
• "Iraq official defends 'torture' facility". CNN. 18 November 2005. Archived from the original on 27 April 2006.
• "Death squads operated from inside Iraqi government, officials say". Knight Ridder. 12 March 2006.
• Knickmeyer, Ellen (14 May 2006). "Iraq Begins to Rein in Paramilitary Force". The Washington Post. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
• "The Minister of Civil War". Harper's. 20 July 2006.
• "Iraq – The Death Squads". Channel 4. 7 November 2006.
• PBS FRONTLINE: Gangs of Iraq 17 April 2007
• Interview with Bayan Jabr, PBS FRONTLINE: Gangs of Iraq 21 November 2006

Political offices
Preceded by Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi	Minister of Finance of Iraq May 2006–December 2010	Succeeded by Rafi al-Issawi
Preceded by Falah Hassan al-Naqib	Minister of Interior of Iraq April 2005–May 2006	Succeeded by Jawad Bulani
Preceded by Coalition Provisional Authority	Minister of Housing and Reconstruction of Iraq September 2003–June 2004	Succeeded by Omar Farouk