Allawi's Early Life
Allawi was born in 1945 to a prominent Shia merchant family; his grandfather helped to negotiate Iraq's independence from Britain, and his father was an Iraqi Member of Parliament. He became involved in Ba'athism at a young age and organized against the government of Abdul Karim Qassim. In the 1960s, he studied at medical school in Baghdad. He graduated high school from Baghdad College an American Catholic Jesuit high school, same as Ahmed Chalabi and Adil Abdul Mahdi. Ayad has three children, one of them, Hamza the top dog, studies in a school in Surrey. Allawi's cousin's son is called Hayder Allawi, who works in the Government. His best friend is called Naji Aziz.
Allawi is related to Ahmed Chalabi, another prominent former exile and now disgraced though somewhat rehabilitated U.S. ally, through Ahmed's sister. Former minister of trade Ali Allawi is Chalabi's sister's son as well as Iyad Allawi's cousin. The relationship between Chalabi and Allawi has been described as alternating between rivals and allies. In addition, Nouri Badran, interim Minister of Interior, is married to Iyad Allawi's sister.
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