Barham Salih

Barham Salih - Iraq

HE President Dr. Barham Salih is the ninth president of Iraq, since October 2, 2018, and the founder of the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani. His life and political outlook have been defined by his experience as a political activist committed to freeing the Kurdistan Region and Iraq from tyranny and to the pursuit of democracy and human rights. He is a veteran Kurdish politician with years of public service and leadership in both the Kurdistan Region and in Iraq. Barham served as Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region from 2009 until 2012. He was elected to a leadership role at the first conference of the Political Union of Kurdistan Party after the liberation of Kurdistan from dictatorship in 1992 and was also chosen to head the PUK office in the United States. Following the first parliamentary elections in the same year, he became the representative of the newly formed Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to the US. During his time in the USA he was active in improving Kurdistan’s relations with the West. He was appointed Prime Minister of the KRG in Suleimani from 2001-04. After the fall of the Ba'athist regime, he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the Interim Iraqi Government in mid-2004, the Minister of Planning in the transitional government in 2005, and Deputy Prime Minister again during 2005-2009. In addition to his role as deputy prime minister, he was also in charge of the economic portfolio and head of the Economic Committee. Barham holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and construction at the University of Cardiff, and a doctoral degree in statistics and computer applications in engineering from the University of Liverpool.