Usama al-Nujayfi

Who is Usama al-Nujayfi?

Usama Abdu'l Aziz al-Nujayfi is an Iraqi politician from the Iraqi National List who was Minister of Industry in the Iraqi Transitional Government. He has been Speaker of Council of Representatives of Iraq since 2010.

According to political ballot in 2010 his name was listed as "Usama Abdulaziz Mohammad Abdulaziz."

Born in Mosul in 1956 to a wealthy family of landowners and politicians, he has a degree in electrical engineering and was involved in building power plants in Iraq.

Nujayfi obtained his degree in electrical engineering from the University of Mosul in 1978, after which he worked in the Iraqi government's electricity ministry for 12 years. In 1992, he established his own company.

As Minister of Industry he privatised most of the state-owned companies which included firms working in sectors from petrochemical and cement to sugar, silk and heavy industry.

He campaigned against the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq.

After the Iraqi legislative election of December 2005, he was nominated by the Iraqi National List to be a member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives and subsequently headed a parliamentary committee.

In September 2006 he sparked a walkout by Kurdish MPs when he said the villages around Mosul were of Arab origin. His bodyguard was also assassinated in that month. He claimed in October 2008 that the 2008 attacks on Christians in Mosul were carried out by Kurdish peshmerga and intelligence operatives.