Minister of Justice Hashim Al-shibli of Iraq
A lawyer and Sunni Muslim, al-Shibli is a member of the newly formed National Democratic Party (Iraq.
Iyad Allawi, leader of the Iraqi National List, nominated Al-Shibli for the justice portfolio although Al-Shibli is not an INL member but a senior member of Nusayr al-Jadirji's National Democratic Party.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat, "Although Al-Shibli is not part of the INL, he was nominated for the justice portfolio because we oppose sectarianism and political power-sharing quotas.
Ali al-Dabbagh, official Iraqi Government spokesman, revealed that "Al-Shibli was one of the ministers who were going to be replaced in the upcoming cabinet reshuffle.
Al-Shibli is a respectable and virtuous man and successful in his work.
Al-Shibli said all the judges would be Iraqi though the court would be able to seek advice from international experts and may allow Arab or foreign lawyers.
Al-Shibli had left Iraq Thursday for Amman, Jordan, and was expected to return on Sunday.
Send US your viewsAl-Shibli was elected to government in December 2005 as part of the secular coalition, the Iraqi National List.
In a telephone interview held this month with a London based-English language Arab daily, Asharq Al-Awsat, al-Shibli said he resigned from his post because his political views differed from those of the government.
Hashim Abdul-Rahman al-Shibli said he could not accept his appointment as human rights minister, which would have brought the total number of Sunnis in the Cabinet to seven.
Al-Shibli was one of four Sunni Arabs handed posts in Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's (search) new government Sunday, bringing their total representation in Cabinet to seven.
I heard about it watching TV, al-Shibli said in an interview.
Al-Shibli was elected to government in December 2005 as part of the secular coalition, the Iraqi National List.
Al-Shibli has been involved in a dispute over the cabinet's recent endorsement of a decision to relocate and compensate thousands of Arabs who moved to Kirkuk, a northern Iraqi city with large oil reserves, during an Arabisation campaign in the 1980s.
Justice Minister Hashim al-Shibli is a member of the Iraq National Accord, led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi, who has been very critical of al-Maliki's government and what he has described on several occasions as its "sectarian bent.
Al-Shibli said the Sunnis had opposed the measure because the constitution, under which the al-Maliki government issued the plan, was still under review with Article 140 on Kirkuk likely to be one of the key clauses debated.
However, al-Shibli said he could not accept his appointment, which would have brought the total number of Sunnis in the Cabinet to seven.
After being appointed Sunday to that latter post, Hashim Abdul-Rahman al-Shibli said he could not accept his appointment.
Concentrating on sectarian identities leads to divisions in the society and state, and for that reason I respectfully decline the post," al-Shibli said at a news conference.
Justice Minister Hashim al-Shibli said the Cabinet agreed Thursday to a study group's recommendation that Arabs who had moved to Kirkuk from other parts of Iraq after July 1968 should be returned to their original towns and paid compensation.
Government officials have declined to publicly give details about the process, but Justice Minister Hashim al-Shibli was quoted as indicating that Hussein's death sentence for crimes against humanity is expected to be implemented within the 30-day time frame ordered by court officials.