Alaa Al-Tamimi - Al-Tamimi As Mayor

Al-Tamimi As Mayor

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority, under Paul Bremer, sought the leadership potential of al-Tamimi as the new Mayor of Baghdad. He fulfilled the criteria for their ideal candidate: over 40, experience in engineering and urban planning, and sympathy for the "principles of democracy."

Al-Tamimi's first action, in coordination with U.S. Major General Peter W. Chiarelli, was to remove concrete barriers and blast walls that had inhibited the flow of traffic in Baghdad. Al-Tamimi has publicly stated his approval of the American removal of dictator Saddam Hussein, yet is critical of the American occupation. "I don’t want Americans in the Green Zone, or outside the Green Zone. I want them outside Baghdad in their camps."

After being elected, al-Tamimi threatened to hand in his resignation three times in protest against the under-funding of Baghdad's reconstruction. In January 2004, an Islamist Shiite provincial council was formed in Baghdad, which actively sought to replace al-Tamimi.