Adnan al-Dulaimi is a Sunni Iraqi politician who became prominent following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the fall of the regime of Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...

. He and his supporters have largely focused on two issues: ending the US occupation of Iraq; and strengthening and protecting the position of the country's Sunni-Arab minority at a time when the country's majority Shiite-Arabs have been in the political ascendancy.

Personal Background

At the time of the invasion, he was an Islamic studies professor at Baghdad University, but soon after the fall of Hussein he became head of the Sunni Endowment, or Waqf, a quasi-government agency charged with overseeing Sunni mosques and the distribution of some of their donations. The government removed him from that post in August 2005, drawing protests from a number of Sunni groups, among them the Association of Moslem Scholars, a federation of Sunni clerics that favors a Sunni-inflected version of Islamic law for Iraq.

Political Affiliations

He is a leader of the General Council for the People of Iraq, a component of the Iraqi Accord Front

Iraqi Accord Front

The Iraqi Accord Front or Iraqi Accordance Front also known as Tawafuq is an Iraqi Sunni-Islamist political coalition created on October 26, 2005 by the Iraqi Islamic Party to contest the December 2005 general election...

 (IAF) which won 44 seats

Members of the 1st Iraqi Council of Representatives

The members of the first Iraqi Council of Representatives were elected in December 2005 under the newly-adopted constitution.The main functions of the Council were to:...

 in the December 2005 general election

Iraqi legislative election, December 2005

Following the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on 15 October 2005, a general election was held on 15 December to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi Council of Representatives....

.
He has been a leading Sunni Arab politician since the fall of Saddam Hussein and has often been at odds with the country's Shiite-led government, complaining that "our participation in this so-called national unity government is weak and marginalized and our ministers have no authority to serve Iraq or its people."

Political Opponents, Attacks, and Legal Troubles

He has been accused by political opponents of seeking to sow discord inside Iraq.

Dulaimi has survived multiple assassination attempts. A February 22, 2006 attack on his car killed one bodyguard and wounded five others. After the attack, Dulaimi called for restraint. “I don’t accuse anyone. ... I consider it accidental, and I call on my brothers for self-restraint and to contain what happened because Iraq is bigger than Adnan and his guards,” Dulaimi said.

In March 2007, the Central Investigating Court of Baghdad requested an investigation into Dulaimi and his sons, Makki and Munqidh, following complaints of forced displacement and sectarian killings in the Al-Adel district of western Baghdad

Baghdad

Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...

 which had been relayed by Sheikh Jalal al-Din Ali al-Saghir

Jalal al-Din Ali al-Saghir

Sheikh Jalal al-Din Ali al-Sagheer is an Iraqi politician and a former member of parliament in the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. The Daily Telegraph, 2005-01-29, accessed on 2007-07-03...

, a Shi'ite imam and member of the Council of Representatives from a neighbouring area. The Council of Representatives asked for Dulaimi's parliamentary immunity to be lifted.

In July 2007 he resigned as leader of the Iraqi Accord Front

Iraqi Accord Front

The Iraqi Accord Front or Iraqi Accordance Front also known as Tawafuq is an Iraqi Sunni-Islamist political coalition created on October 26, 2005 by the Iraqi Islamic Party to contest the December 2005 general election...

.

In November 2007, his son Makki and a number of Dulaimi's bodyguards were arrested after security forces found two car bombs near his office and his house in al-Adel neighborhood. Adnan al-Dulaimi was briefly put under house arrest. President of Iraq

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 Constitution." The President is elected by the Council of...

, Jalal Talabani

Jalal Talabani

Jalal Talabani is the sixth and current President of Iraq, a leading Kurdish politician. He is the first non-Arab president of Iraq, although Abdul Kareem Qasim was half Kurdish....

 sent a group of his personal guards peshmerga

Peshmerga

Peshmerga or Peshmerge is the term used by Kurds to refer to armed Kurdish fighters. Literally meaning "those who face death" the Peshmerga forces of Kurdistan have been in existence since the advent of the Kurdish independence movement in the early 1920s, following the collapse of the Ottoman...

 to protect al-Dulaimi.

In August 2008 his son Al Muthanna was arrested and accused of involvement in terrorism and sectarian killings. Iraqi security forces said he was arrested while placing a bomb in the house of a displaced family in Western Baghdad. A warrant for his arrest was issued charging him with multiple killings and forcing people from their homes. An MP from Dulaimi's party said the arrests were aimed at damaging relations between the Iraqi Accord Front and the government

Government of Iraq from 2006

The current government of Iraq took office on May 20, 2006 following approval by the members of the Iraqi National Assembly. This followed the general election in December 2005...

 of Nouri al-Maliki

Nouri al-Maliki

Nouri Kamil Mohammed Hasan al-Maliki , also known as Jawad al-Maliki or Abu Esraa, is the Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Al-Maliki and his government succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government. He is currently in his second term as Prime Minister...

.