Abdul Latif Rashid (; born 10 August 1944), also known as Latif Rashid () is an Iraqi

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish languages *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern Kurdistan **Eastern Kurdistan **Northern Kurdistan **Western Kurdistan See also * Kurd (dis ...

politician and the ninth

president of Iraq The president of Iraq is the head of state of Iraq and "safeguards the commitment to the Constitution and the preservation of Iraq's independence, sovereignty, unity, the security of its territories in accordance with the provisions of the Con ...

, following the 2022 Iraqi presidential election. He was previously the Minister of Water Resources under the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

Nouri al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki ( ar, نوري المالكي; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party and was the prime minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and the vice president ...

. Prior to that, he served in the same position under both the

Iraqi Transitional Government The Iraqi Transitional Government was the government of Iraq from May 3, 2005, when it replaced the Iraqi Interim Government, until May 20, 2006, when it was replaced by a permanent government. On April 28 it was approved by the transitional Ira ...

and the

Iraqi Interim Government The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the drafting of the new constitution following the National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005. T ...

. Rashid was formerly a

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for the

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK; ku, یەکێتیی نیشتمانیی کوردستان, translit=Yekîtiya Nîştimanî ya Kurdistanê) is a political party active in Kurdistan Region and the disputed territories in Iraq. The PUK describe ...

(PUK) in the United Kingdom. He is a graduate of the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

. As Minister for Water Resources from September 2003 until December 2010, Rashid was responsible for a range of issues, including

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

, municipal and industrial water supply,

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...

, flood control, and environmental requirements including marsh restoration. After the removal of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

's regime in April 2005 the Minister oversaw dramatic improvements in the management of the country's water resources.

Biography

Rashid was born in 1944 in

Sulaymaniyah Sulaymaniyah, also spelled as Slemani ( ku, سلێمانی, Silêmanî, ar, السليمانية, as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar, Go ...

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, Kurdish la ...

Kingdom of Iraq The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq ( ar, المملكة العراقية الهاشمية, translit=al-Mamlakah al-ʿIrāqiyyah ʾal-Hāshimyyah) was a state located in the Middle East from 1932 to 1958. It was founded on 23 August 1921 as the Kingdo ...

, to an upper-class Kurdish family. Rashid took British

A-Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

s in North Wales. He has a B.Sc. (1968) in Civil Engineering from Liverpool University, and an M.Sc. (1972) and Ph.D. (1976) in Engineering from Manchester University. Upon returning to Iraq, he became an active member of the PUK under the leadership of

Jalal Talabani Jalal Talabani ( ku, مام جەلال تاڵەبانی, translit=Celal Talebanî; ar, جلال طالباني ; 1933 – 3 October 2017) was an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the sixth president of Iraq from 2006 to 2014, as well as ...

. The Minister has been involved with a number of programs and organizations related to engineering, agriculture developments. He previously worked as senior Project Manager for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) in Yemen and Saudi Arabia. He was a member of Executive Council of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan's Representative in the UK since 1986 as well as spokesman for the Kurdistan Front. Rashid is a chartered engineer, a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineering and the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID). He has been a freelance consultant for irrigation and drainage projects and worked with the Water Engineering Administration. In 1992 Rashid was elected vice president and Executive Member of the

Iraqi National Congress The Iraqi National Congress (INC; Arabic language, Arabic: المؤتمر الوطني العراقي ''Al-Moutammar Al-Watani Al-'Iraqi'') is an Iraqi political party that was led by Ahmed Chalabi who died in 2015. It was formed as an umbrella I ...

(INC), and in 1998 he was elected to the six-member leadership of the INC. Apart from technical qualifications and engagements Rashid has taken an active part in both Kurdish and Iraqi politics. He has attended many conferences and official meetings on behalf of Kurdish political parties and Iraqi opposition groups during Saddam's regime. Rashid has also represented Kurdish politics and Iraqi opposition groups to Saddam in official meetings with various international institutions and governments. He is married to

Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed (born 1954) is a Kurdish Iraqi politician, writer, member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, and current first lady of Iraq. Her husband is President Abdul Latif Rashid. She speaks Kurdish, Arabic, Persian and English, she ...

and they have two sons and one daughter.

President of Iraq

On 13 October 2022, Rashid was elected as the ninth President of Iraq. Rashid replaced

Barham Salih Barham Salih ( ku, بەرھەم ساڵح, Berhem Salih; ar, برهم صالح; born 12 September 1960) is an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the eighth president of Iraq from 2018 to 2022. He is the former prime minister of the Kurdista ...

as head of state after the two-round vote in parliament, winning more than 162 votes against 99 for Salih

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rashid, Latif Government ministers of Iraq Living people 1944 births Iraqi civil engineers Patriotic Union of Kurdistan politicians Iraqi National Congress politicians Presidents of Iraq