Abdel Mahdi: An Iraqi moderate with friends in Washington

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2006

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Adel Abdel Mahdi, who could be Iraq's next prime minister, is a moderate Shiite who believes in free markets and foreign investment and has plenty of friends in Washington.

The conservative Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), which has emerged with the most seats in parliament after a December election, was meeting on Saturday to choose between Abdel Mahdi and the current premier, Ibrahim Jaafari.

Not too much has been heard from Abdel Mahdi since he assumed one of two largely ceremonial posts of vice president in April, but the 63-year-old has long been a major player in the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), one of the main parties in the UIA.

In an interview with AFP in December, Abdel Mahdi said the priority for the...