Ayad al-Samarrai is a Sunni Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

 Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

i politician, who was the chairman 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...

 parliamentary group, and since July 2011 is the secretary-general of the Iraqi Islamic Party

Iraqi Islamic Party

The Iraqi Islamic Party is currently the largest Sunni Islamist political party in Iraq as well as the most prominent member of the Iraqi Accord Front political coalition. It is currently part of the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki...

. He was elected as the speaker of the Iraqi Parliament on April 19, 2009, succeeding Mahmoud Al-Mashhadani.

Exile

Samarrai lived in exile in Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 in 1995, when he was elected secretary-general of the party.

Prior to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq

2003 invasion of Iraq

The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...

 he was appointed to the American-backed opposition Follow-Up and Arrangement Committee

Follow-Up and Arrangement Committee

The Follow Up and Arrangement Committee was an alliance of Iraqi opposition groups formed in the run up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.-Members:The members of the committee were:...

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Return to Iraq

In September 2006 he was appointed as a member/ second deputy chairman of parliamentary review committee considering amendments to the constitution of Iraq

Constitution of Iraq

The Constitution of Iraq is Iraq's fundamental law.-History:Iraq's first constitution, which established a constitutional monarchy, entered into force under the auspices of a British military occupation in 1925 and remained in effect until the 1958 revolution established a republic...

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In July 2007 he was elected head of the Iraqi Accordance Front parliamentary group, replacing Adnan al-Dulaimi

Adnan al-Dulaimi

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...

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