Iraq Voices: A Politician Rises
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
BAGHDAD — Adel Abdul Mahdi began his life in the new Iraq with a gag in his mouth.
The man who would become one of Iraq’s vice presidents was captured by American troops less than a month after the invasion, as he left a meeting in the Republican Palace with other returning exiles. He was shoved, insulted, handcuffed and held for nearly 24 hours, he recalled.
The next five years would bring moments much worse for the Shiite leader, who considers himself less a politician than a fighter for Iraq’s freedom. He says he has survived an average of four assassination attempts a year.
A prominent figure in the Shiite political party now known as the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Mr. Mahdi was a leading candidate to become prime minister until Nouri al-Maliki seized the post. After the second bombing of the holy Shiite shrine in Samarra last June, and amid the sectarian violence paralyzing the Iraqi government, Mr. Mahdi resigned, but ultimately held onto his job.
