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Khaled Yassin al-Obaidi (born 1959)[1] is an Iraqi politician who served as the defense minister of Iraq 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 | |
| President | Fuad Masum |
| Prime Minister | Haider al-Abadi |
| Preceded by | Saadoun al-Dulaimi |
| Succeeded by | Othman Ghanm (Interim) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mosul, Iraq |
| Political party | Azem Alliance |
| Other political affiliations | Itihad al-Quwa al-Wataniyah |
| Alma mater | University of Baghdad, Keele University |
| Profession | Politician, aerospace engineer |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service |  Iraqi Air Force Iraqi Army |
| Rank | Major general |
Khalid Yassin al-Obaidi is a Sunni Muslim who was born in Mosul.[2] He belongs to the 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]
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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 a 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]
al-Obaidi later shifted to the Azem Alliance.[11] Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi appointed him as the head of the operations section of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service on 14 September 2020.[12]
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