Nouri al-Maliki

Nouri al-Maliki has been the Prime Minister of Iraq since 2006. He has been an active member of the Shi'ite Islamic Dawa Party since the 1960s; when Saddam Hussein began executing party members, he went into exile in Damascus and Tehran, returning after the 2003 invasion. When he was in exile, he was known publicly as Jawad, but he reverted to his given name of Nouri upon his return to Iraq.

While abroad, he continued to work for the Dawa Party, forging links with Hezbollah and the Iranian government among other organizations; despite these links, he is a moderate politician. In 2006, he was considered to be a compromise candidate and was selected to become Prime Minister. He has gained the support and respect of many Iraqis by insisting that the American military has an ever-waning presence in the country.

For more information, see http://bbc.in/n5la6U.