Friday, December 5, 2014

A00006 - Haider al-Abadi, Prime Minister of Iraq

Haider Jawad Kadhim Al-Abadi (or al-'Ibadi; Arabicحيدر جواد كاظم العبادي‎, born 25 April[citation needed] 1952) is an Iraqi politician and the current Prime Minister of Iraq. He was Minister of Communication from 2003 to 2004, in the first government after Saddam Hussein.
A Shia Muslim, he was designated as Prime Minister by President Fuad Masum on 11 August 2014 to succeed Nouri al-Maliki[1] and was approved by the Iraqi parliament on 8 September 2014.[2]

Early life and education[edit]

Al-Abadi graduated high school in 1970 from Al-Idadiyah Al-Markaziyah in Baghdad.[3] In 1975, he earned a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Technology in Baghdad.[4] In 1980, he earned a PhD degree inElectrical engineering from the University of Manchester.[5]

Political career[edit]

Al-Abadi joined the Dawa Party in 1967.[3] His three brothers were arrested in 1980, 1981, and 1982 for belonging to the Dawa Party.[4] In 1977 he became the chief of the party while studying in London.[6] In 1979 he became a member of the party's executive leadership.[7] In 1983 the government confiscated al-Abadi's passport for conspiring against the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region.[7]

Exile[edit]

Al-Abadi remained in the UK, in voluntary exile, until the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[8] His positions during this time included:[3]
  • Director general of a small design and development firm in London specialising in high-technology vertical and horizontal transportation (1993–2003)
  • Consultant, in London, in matters relating to transportation (1987–2003)
  • Research leader for a major modernization contract in London (1981–1986)
Al-Abadi was awarded a grant from the UK Department of Trade and Industry in 1998. While working in London in 2001 Al-Abadi registered a patent relating to rapid transit systems.

Return to Iraq[edit]

In 2003, Al-Abadi became skeptical of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) privatization plan, proposing to Paul Bremer that they had to wait for a legitimate government to be formed. In October 2003, Al-Abadi with all 25 of the interim Governing Council ministers protested to Paul Bremer and rejected the CPA's demand to privatize the state-owned companies and infrastructure prior to forming a legitimate government. The CPA, led by Bremer, fell out with Al-Abadi and the Governing Council. The CPA worked around the Governing Council, forming a new government that remained beholden to the CPA to serve until the general elections, prompting more aggressive armed actions by insurgents against US-led coalition personnel.[9]
While Al-Abadi was Minister of Communications, the CPA awarded licenses to three mobile operators to cover all parts of Iraq. Despite being rendered nearly powerless by the CPA,[10] Al-Abadi was not prepared to be a rubber stamp and introduced more conditions for the licenses. Among them that a sovereign Iraqi government has the power to amend or terminate the licenses and introduce a fourth national license, which caused some friction with the CPA. In 2003, press reports indicated Iraqi officials were under investigation over a questionable deal involving Orascom, an Egypt-based telecoms company, which in late 2003 was awarded a contract to provide a mobile network to central Iraq. Al-Abadi asserted that there was no illicit dealing in the completed awards.[11] In 2004, it was revealed that these allegations were fabrications, and a US Defense Department review found that telecommunications contracting had been illegally influenced in an unsuccessful effort led by disgraced US Deputy Undersecretary of Defense John A. Shaw and not by Iraqis.[12]
Between January-December 2005, he served as an adviser to the Prime Minister of Iraq in the first elected government.[13]
He was elected as a member of the Iraqi Parliament in the Iraqi parliamentary election, December 2005 and chaired the parliamentary committee for Economy, Investment and Reconstruction. Al-Abadi was re-elected in the Iraqi parliamentary election, 2010 as a member of the Iraqi Parliament representing Baghdad. In 2013, he chaired the Finance Committee and was at the center of a parliamentary dispute over the allocation of the 2013 Iraqi budget.[14]
Al-Abadi's name was circulated as a prime ministerial candidate during the formation of the Iraqi government in 2006 during which time Ibrahim al-Jaafari was replaced by Nouri al-Maliki as Prime Minister.
In 2008, Al-Abadi remained steadfast in his support of Iraqi sovereignty, insisting on specific conditions to the agreement with the US regarding its presence in Iraq.[15]
In 2009, Al-Abadi was identified by the Middle East Economic Digest as a key person to watch in Iraq's reconstruction.[13]
He is an active member of the Iraq Petroleum Advisory Committee, participating in the Iraq Petroleum Conferences of 2009–2012 organized by Nawar Abdulhadi and Phillip Clarke of The CWC Group .[16]
He was one of several Iraqi politicians supporting a suit against Blackwater as a result of the 2010 dismissal of criminal charges against Blackwater personnel involved in the 2007 killing of 17 Iraqi civilians.[17]
Al-Abadi was again tipped as a possible Prime Minister during the tough negotiations between Iraqi political blocs after the elections of 2010 to choose a replacement to incumbent PM Nouri Al-Maliki. Again in 2014, he was nominated by Shia political parties as an alternative candidate for Prime Minister.[18]

Premiership[edit]

On 24 July 2014, Fuad Masum became the new president of Iraq. He, in turn, nominated Al-Abadi for prime minister on 11 August.[19] For the appointment to take effect, Al-Abadi was required to form a government to be confirmed by Parliament within 30 days.[20] Al-Maliki, however, refused to give up his post and referred the matter to the federal court claiming the president's nomination was a "constitutional violation." He said, "The insistence on this until the end is to protect the state."[21]On 14 August 2014, in the face of growing calls from world leaders and members of his own party, the embattled Prime Minister announced he was stepping down to make way for Al-Abadi.


The Iraqi Parliament approved al-Abadi's new government and his presidential program on 8 September 2014.[22]

*****

Haider Jawad Kadhim al-Abadi (or Haider Jawad Kadhim al-'Ibadi; Arabic: حيدر جواد كاظم العبادي‎, b. April 25, 1952) is an Iraqi politician and the Prime Minister of Iraq.  He was Minister of Communication from 2003 to 2004, in the first government after Saddam Hussein.

A Shia Muslim,  al-Abadi was designated as Prime Minister by President Fuad Masum on August 11, 2014 to succeed Nouri al-Maliki and was approved by the Iraqi parliament on September 8, 2014.

Al-Abadi graduated high school in 1970 from Al-Idadiyah Al-Markaziyah in Baghdad. In 1975, he earned a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Technology in Baghdad. In 1980, he earned a PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manchester.
Al-Abadi joined the Dawa Party in 1967. His three brothers were arrested in 1980, 1981, and 1982 for belonging to the Dawa Party.  In 1977 he became the chief of the party while studying in London.   In 1979 al-Abadi became a member of the party's executive leadership. In 1983 the government confiscated al-Abadi's passport for conspiring against the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party -- Iraq Region. 

Al-Abadi remained in the United Kingdom, in voluntary exile, until the 2003 invasion of Iraq. His positions during this time included:
  • Director general of a small design and development firm in London specializing in high-technology vertical and horizontal transportation (1993–2003)
  • Consultant, in London, in matters relating to transportation (1987–2003)
  • Research leader for a major modernization contract in London (1981–1986)
Al-Abadi was awarded a grant from the Department of Trade and Industry in 1998. While working in London in 2001, al-Abadi registered a patent relating to rapid transit systems.

In 2003, al-Abadi became skeptical of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) privatization plan, proposing to Paul Bremer that they had to wait for a legitimate government to be formed. In October 2003, al-Abadi with all 25 of the interim Governing Council ministers protested to Paul Bremer and rejected the CPA's demand to privatize the state-owned companies and infrastructure prior to forming a legitimate government. The CPA, led by Bremer, fell out with al-Abadi and the Governing Council. The CPA worked around the Governing Council, forming a new government that remained beholden to the CPA to serve until the general elections, prompting more aggressive armed actions by insurgents against US-led coalition personnel.

While al-Abadi was Minister of Communications, the CPA awarded licenses to three mobile operators to cover all parts of Iraq. Despite being rendered nearly powerless by the CPA, al-Abadi was not prepared to be a rubber stamp and introduced more conditions for the licenses. Among them that a sovereign Iraqi government has the power to amend or terminate the licenses and introduce a fourth national license, which caused some friction with the CPA. In 2003, press reports indicated Iraqi officials were under investigation over a questionable deal involving Orascom, an Egypt-based telecoms company, which in late 2003 was awarded a contract to provide a mobile network to central Iraq. Al-Abadi asserted that there was no illicit dealing in the completed awards.  In 2004, it was revealed that these allegations were fabrications, and a United States Defense Department review found that telecommunications contracting had been illegally influenced in an unsuccessful effort led by United States Deputy Undersecretary of Defense John A. Shaw and not by Iraqis.

Between January and December 2005, al-Abadi served as an adviser to the Prime Minister of Iraa in the first elected government.

Al-Abadi was elected a member of the Iraqi Parliament in the Iraqi parliamentary election, December 2005 and chaired the parliamentary committee for Economy, Investment and Reconstruction. Al-Abadi was re-elected in the Iraqi parliamentary election, 2010 as a member of the Iraqi Parliament representing Baghdad.  In 2013, al-Abadi chaired the Finance Committee and was at the center of a parliamentary dispute over the allocation of the 2013 Iraqi budget.

Al-Abadi's name was circulated as a prime ministerial candidate during the formation of the Iraqi government in 2006 during which time Ibrahim al-Jaafari was replaced by Nouri al-Maliki as Prime Minister.

In 2008, al-Abadi remained steadfast in his support of Iraqi sovereignty, insisting on specific conditions to the agreement with the US regarding its presence in Iraq.

In 2009, al-Abadi was identified by the Middle East Economic Digest as a key person to watch in Iraq's reconstruction.

Al-Abadi is an active member of the Iraq Petroleum Advisory Committee, participating in the Iraq Petroleum Conferences of 2009–2012 organized by Nawar Abdulhadi and Phillip Clarke of The CWC Group .

Al-Abadi was one of several Iraqi politicians supporting a suit against Blackwater as a result of the 2010 dismissal of criminal charges against Blackwater personnel involved in the 2007 killing of 17 Iraqi civilians.

Al-Abadi was again tipped as a possible Prime Minister during the tough negotiations between Iraqi political blocs after the elections of 2010 to choose a replacement to incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.  Again in 2014, al-Abadi was nominated by Shia political parties as an alternative candidate for Prime Minister.

On July 24, 2014, Fuad Masum became the new president of Iraq. He, in turn, nominated al-Abadi for prime minister on August 11. For the appointment to take effect, al-Abadi was required to form a government to be confirmed by Parliament within 30 days.  Al-Maliki, however, refused to give up his post and referred the matter to the federal court claiming the president's nomination was a constitutional violation. On August 14, 2014, in the face of growing calls from world leaders and members of his own party, the embattled Prime Minister announced he was stepping down to make way for al-Abadi.

The Iraqi Parliament approved al-Abadi's new government and his presidential program on September 8, 2014.

A00005 - Mutaz Barshim, Record Setting High Jumper

Mutaz Essa Barshim (Arabicمعتز عيسى برشم‎; born 24 June 1991) is a Qatari track and field athlete who specialises in thehigh jump. He is the national record and Asian record holder with a best mark of 2.43 m (7 ft 1112 in). He was the Asian Indoor and World Junior champion in 2010. He won the high jump gold medals at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships and 2011 Military World Games, and he won the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games held in London, with a height of 2.29 m (7' 6"). He jumps off his left foot, using the Fosbury Flop technique, with a pronounced backwards arch over the bar.

Early life[edit]

Barshim gave a "Feature" interview to the IAAF's on-line news publication in April 2013 and explained how he started in the sport. Mutaz was born in Doha into an Afro-Arab family of 5 boys and 1 girl, where his father was a Qatari athletics competitor in middle- and long-distance races. All of the Barshim children became active in the sport of athletics (track & field) because of their father, who, after retiring from competition, became the coach of a local club. Barshim tried both running and long jumping as a youth. He told the IAAF interviewer, “I grew up, nothing special, like any kid in Qatar. I joined a club because my father was going to the club training so sometimes he used to take me there with him. I knew athletics because of my father." He attended an Arabic school in Doha, where he learned to speak English. At age 15 he switched to the high jump and quickly excelled. Soon, he was training in Doha at the ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence. He finished to train in ASPIRE in 2009, when his personal best was 2.14 m. It was from then, September 2009, when his new (and current) coach from Poland/Sweden Stanisław "Stanley" Szczyrba arrived to Doha. He has been his coach since then, and Barshim said, "He is more than a coach, we are like father and son." During summer season in Europe, they spend time at Szczyrba's home in Warsaw, Poland, and they also train in Sweden so that Barshim does not have to waste time flying to and from Qatar between competitions.[2]
Barshim enjoyed his first international successes in 2010, at the age of 19. He set an indoor Qatari record in Gothenburgin early February with a jump of 2.25 m,[1] and then went on to take the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, winning with a clearance of 2.20 m.[3] He was selected to represent Qatar at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha and his performance of 2.23 m left him in fourteenth place in the qualifying round.[4] These feats made him the first graduate of the ASPIRE Academy to either compete at the world championship-level and hold the national record in an Olympic sport.[5]
Barshim won at the Arab Athletics Championship for Juniors in Cairo in May 2010, clearing an outdoor best of 2.23 m, and then went on to secure the continental junior title at the 2010 Asian Junior Athletics Championships. His winning mark at the competition (2.31 m) was a national record and a world-leading mark for junior athletes[6] – it was also the best jump by a junior since Huang Haiqiang cleared 2.32 m in 2006.[7] He went on to win at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Moncton, winning with a height of 2.30 m.[8]

2011[edit]

He won gold in the Asian Athletics Championships in Kobe after clearing a height of 2.35 m, a new national and championship record.[9] He continued his good form and won a gold medal at the Military World Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with a 2.28 m clearance.[10] He made his debut on the global senior stage at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu and reached the final, missing a medal on count-back and ranking seventh overall. He became high champion at the Gulf Council Championships and the Arab Championships before capping off his year with yet another international gold medal at the 2011 Pan Arab Games held on home soil in Doha.[11]

2012[edit]

At the 2012 indoor Asian Championships, held in Hangzhou, China, on 19 February 2012, Barshim won the gold medal and established a new personal best (and national record) of 2.37 m (7'9.25"), breaking the previous championship record of 2.34: it was also the highest indoor jump in the world, to date in 2012.[12] He began jumping at 2.10 and had first try clearances at 2.15, 2.20 and 2.24, before missing once at 2.28, temporarily falling to second place when Chinese jumper Zhang Guowei cleared on his first try. Zhang then failed at 2.31, while Barshim resumed his flawless jumping with first try clears at 2.31, 2.34 and 2.37. He then failed in three attempts at 2.40.

Barshim on the 2012 Olympic podium
At the 2012 Olympic Games, held in London, United Kingdom, on 7 August 2012, Barshim won the bronze medal with a jump of 2.29, finishing in a 3-way tie for third place with Derek Drouin from Canada and Robert Grabarz from Great Britain.[13]
Barshim suffered a back injury in early 2012 and (later) said he was not healthy at the London Olympics. The problem was found to be a stress fracture in the fifth (L5) Lumbar vertebrae. In an interview for the IAAF in April 2013, Barshim said: "It started hurting bad before the (2012) World Indoor Championships and then I had to stop a bit. Before the Olympics, I had to stop again, but we have a really good sports center in Doha and I also received treatment in Warsaw."[2]

2013[edit]

Barshim began his 2013 season indoors, in Sweden, in mid-January. He entered six competitions in Europe in 3 and one-half weeks, jumping 2.30 or better every time and winning five of the six before his back injury forced an early end. His season-best of 2.37 matched his career indoor best and was the highest in the world indoors in 2013.

Barshim celebrating a clearance at the 2013 World Championships
Mutaz first entered two "small" competitions in Sweden, jumping 2.30 on 13 January, and then an (early) world-leading 2.33 (7' 7 3/4") in Växjö on 20 January. He next competed in the famous, invitation-only Moravia High Jump Tour, finishing 2nd (on misses) behind Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov as both jumped 2.30 in Hustopece on 26 January, and then Barshim won the second leg at Trinec on 29 January, tying the meet record of 2.34. On 3 February he won the Russian Winter Games in Moscow with yet another world-leading jump of 2.37 - which also tied his Asian indoor record from 2012 - ending that competition with a narrow miss at 2.40. He then flew to the Europa SC High Jump competition in Banska Bystrica, Slovak Republic, where his aching back restricted his jumps. In one of the strongest fields of the year, five jumpers cleared 2.30. Barshim began at 2.15, next cleared 2.30, then passed until 2.36 where his 3rd attempt clearance (only his fifth jump overall) gave him the win.[14]
Barshim ended his indoor season on 6 February, as he did not want to risk further injury, hoping to be able to thrill his hometown fans when the IAAF's Diamond League opens its 2013 outdoor season in Doha on 10 May.
Mutaz opened his outdoor season on 10 April 2013 with an "appearance" at the GCC Athletics Championships held at Doha's Khalifa International Stadium. He took only two jumps, casually running in from almost half the distance of his usual approach to clear 2.19 meters with his first attempt and then improving to 2.25 with his second. Having clinched the win, he quit to avoid hurting his back. Of note, his younger brother Moamer took second place with a jump of 2.16.[15]
At the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League Meet in Eugene, Oregon (1 June 2013), Barshim won, being one of 3 men to clear 2.36 (7'8 3/4"), a new meet record. Barshim was in the lead with no misses. After everyone missed their attempts at 2.39, Barshim, jumping last, saved his final (third) attempt for one try at new personal best of 2.40 (7' 10") and made it. He becomes only the 8th man in history to have cleared 2.40 outdoors, and the first since 2000.

2014[edit]


Barshim supporting the Doha bid for the 2019 World Championships
World Indoor Champion: Barshim jumped sparingly during the 2014 Indoor season because of chronic back pain. Nonetheless, he entered the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland on 8 & 9 March as favorite to medal, behind heavily favored Russian jumper Ivan Ukhov. In the Finals on Sunday 9 March, Barshim was sensational, clearing 7 consecutive heights on his first attempt, up to and including a new Asian indoor record of 2.38m (7' 9-3/4"). Ukhov required 3 attempts to get over that height and when both men failed at 2.40m, Barshim won the gold medal, while Ukhov took silver based on the tie-breaking count-back (misses). The 22-year old Qatari has now won a medal at the last 3 major competitions: bronze at the 2012 London Olympics, silver at the 2013 World championships in Moscow, and gold at the 2014 World Indoor Championships in Sopot.
In early May, when the IAAF Diamond League came to his home, he had to watch as Ukhov not only bested him but moved up to equal the third highest jump ever 2.41m, while Mutaz was relegated to fourth behind Derek Drouin and Erik Kynard. On June 5 in Rome, he reversed that result, joining the group equal to third best ever at 2.41 while Ukhov finished in fifth behind the same athletes and Bohdan Bondarenko(who is also part of the group from 2013).
A week and a half later, at the Adidas Grand PrixIcahn StadiumNew York City, Barshim and Bondarenko were locked in a tight competition. On his first attempt at 2.42m, Barshim cleared and improved his personal best and his own Asian Continental record, while setting the Diamond League record with a 2014 world-leading leap equaling Patrick Sjoberg's former world record from 1987 as the second best outdoor jump in history. Moments later Bondarenko equaled Barshim's jump, also on his first attempt. Ukhov and Carlo Thränhardt (1988) have also jumped that height under the more controlled conditions indoors. Barshim then missed his first attempt at 2.44m. Ahead on misses, Bondarenko decided to pass at 2.44m and as a result, Barshim also passed on his remaining jumps at 2.44m and the bar was then raised to 2.46m, one centimeter above the existing world record height of 2.45m set on July 27, 1993, by Javier Sotomayor of Cuba. Both jumpers took a combined five attempts at the world record height with Barshim coming closest to clearing the height on his first attempt.[16]
Bondarenko and Barshim's jumps are the best in the world since Javier Sotomayor of Cuba cleared 2.42m in Seville on June 5, 1994. Only Sotomayor, on four occasions, has jumped higher than these two men.[17] The two men also made multiple attempts at the record in the final Diamond League meet of the 2014 season with Barshim again coming closest in his final attempt, clipping the bar with his heel. He won the competition with a PB of 2.43 giving him sole possession of the second-highest jump of all time.[18]

Competition record[edit]


Barshim at the 2010 Janusz Kusociński Memorial

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
2010Asian Indoor ChampionshipsTehran, Iran1st2.20 m
World Indoor ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar14th (q)2.23 m
Asian Junior ChampionshipsHanoi, Vietnam1st2.31 m NR
World Junior ChampionshipsMoncton, Canada1st2.30 m
Asian GamesGuangzhou, China1st2.27 m
2011Asian Athletics ChampionshipsKobe, Japan1st2.35 m NR
World ChampionshipsDaegu, South Korea7th2.32 m
Pan Arab GamesDoha, Qatar1st2.30 m
2012Asian Indoor ChampionshipsHangzhou, China1st2.37 m AR
World Indoor ChampionshipsIstanbul, Turkey9th2.28 m
Olympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom3rd2.29 m
2013World ChampionshipsMoscow, Russia2nd2.38 m
2014Asian Indoor ChampionshipsHangzhou, China1st2.36 m
World Indoor ChampionshipsSopot, Poland1st2.38 m AR


*****

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rsO-waG1yU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC0tNAlHWSc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIrDPa7moec

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhetXEyz2Hk


*****



Mutaz Essa Barshim (Arabic: معتز عيسى برشم‎; b. 24 June 1991) is a Qatari track and field athlete who specializes in the high jump.  He is the national record and Asian record holder with a best mark of 2.43 m (7 ft 1112 in). He was the Asian Indoor and World Junior champion in 2010. He won the high jump gold medals at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships and 2011 Military World Games, and he won the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games held in London, with a height of 2.29 m (7' 6"). He jumps off his left foot, using the Fosbury Flop technique, with a pronounced backwards arch over the bar.