An Iraqi Kurdish politician served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq from 2004 to 2014, and also held the position of Minister of Finance until September 2016. He holds a degree in Political Science from the University of Jordan in 1976 and completed his Master's studies in Sociology and Development in 1979 from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. He became a member of the Central Committee and the Political Bureau of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in 1979. He worked as a representative of the party in Europe before managing the party's office for international relations from 1988 until 2003. He was elected to the Executive Council of the Iraqi National Congress in 1992 and elected to the Presidential Council of the Congress in 1999. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government appointed by the Governing Council in Iraq and retained his position in the Iraqi Interim Government and the Transitional Iraqi Government until becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Iraqi Government in 2006 and the Iraqi Government in 2010.