Jaafari: the stubborn Iraqi PM who lost battle for post

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2006

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, a devout Shiite and stubborn politician, has lost a long-drawn battle to retain his post after coming under fire for failing to quell sectarian violence.

The 55-year-old former medical doctor whose Dawa party battled Saddam Hussein's regime for decades, on Thursday gave up his fight to keep his job after a four-month campaign to oust him was launched by Sunni and Kurdish parties as well as rivals within his own Shiite political bloc.

In his 12 months in power, arguably his greatest achievement has been bringing the disaffected Sunni minority back into politics, while his greatest failure has been a continuing lack of security.

A religious Shiite who once commanded broad popular support that was...