Showan Mazhar, currently deputy secretary general of the ministry, has been nominated by Minister Thabet al-Abbassi and approved by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani to replace Jabbar T. al-Haidari as secretary general.
“He assumed the position as part of Kurdish share,” Sagvan Sindi, deputy head of the parliamentary security and defence committee, told Rudaw.
“He is definitely endorsed by the Kurdistan Region leadership. He is also an active and seasoned figure,” Sindi added.
He noted that the Kurdish share of positions in the defence ministry is less than one percent.
Kurds no longer hold most of the top military positions they used to fill, Babakir Zebari, a military advisor to the Kurdistan Region Presidency and the former chief of staff of the Iraqi army, told Rudaw in June.
The Iraqi government said in 2015 that Zebari had been “retired” on an order from the prime minister, but he later said he retired because he could no longer exercise his power.
The Iraqi Air Force on Wednesday congratulated Mazhar on getting the post.
Mazhar is a graduate of the Military Academy Brno in the Czech Republic and has served in the air force.
