Juan Cole/Informed Comment: April 6, 2005 (Part 2)

Talabani President

The Iraqi National Assembly is set to announce the formation of a presidential council on Wednesday, selecting Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as president, Adil Abdul Mahdi as a vice president, and Ghazi al-Yawar as the other vice president. Abdul Mahdi is a member of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq who has gravitated toward a faith in the free market (he is rumored to have been a Maoist in his youth). Yawir is the current president, and is from the powerful Shamar tribe.