Al-Iraqiya Coalition rejects appointment of Saadoun al-Duleimy for Acting Defense Minister’s post
BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Spokeswoman of al-Iraqiya Coalition, led by Iyad Allawi, Maysouon al-Damaloujy, has announced on Sunday its rejection of the appointment for the post of Acting Defense Minister by the current Culture Minister, Saadoun al-Duleimy, saying that her Coalition had nominated several candidates, who were all rejected by Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki. “Al-Iraqiya Coalition rejects the appointment of the post of Acting Defense Minister for Saadoun al-Duleimy, considering the talk in this respect by Prime Minister Maliki as “an another individual decision, reflecting Maliki’s individualism to deal with such issues,” Damaloujy said. She said that “al-Iraqiya Coalition had nominated a large number of candidates for the said post, but the Prime Minister had rejected them all, because he doesn’t want al-Iraqiya Coalition to share in the security dossier in any form.” Iraq’s Prime Minister Maliki had said in a news conference on Saturday, after attending a Parliament session that “if no agreement would take place towards the appointment of the candidates for the security cabinet posts, I shall assign the current Culture Minister, Saadoun al-Duleimy, to carry out the duties of the Defense Minister on acting basis,” pointing out that Duleimy possesses a previous experience in that respect. Saadoun al-Duleimy has held the post of Defense Minister in the past and he holds the post of the Minister of Culture now. He was born in Anbar Province in 1954 and is an independent Iraqi politician, who does not belong for any party. He had got the MA degree in Social Sciences from Baghdad University in 1979 and PhD in Social Psychology from the United Kingdom in 1990. Duleimy had joined the opposition against the regime of Iraq ’s former President Saddam Hussein after Iraq ’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and was sentenced to death in absentia for his role in a coup attempt against Saddam’s regime. SKH (RT)