Minister of State Hasan Al-sari of Syria

The Mahdi Army has no problem with the people, it has a problem with the Americans," Hassen al-Sari told me in May Al-Sari is an officer in the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a moderate organization that was appointed by President Bush to the now-defunct Iraqi Governing Council.

Al-Sari said that for the last month, Basra has been afflicted by a mass of assassinations, equalling one each hour of the day.

was appointed by President Bush to the now-defunct Iraqi Governing Council.

A burly, genial man who is running on the slogan Defeat the Terrorists, Provide Services, al-Sari has sent his family to Sweden because of the security threats.

As a senior adviser to Iraq's Ministry of Defense, al-Sari is one of the few small-party candidates with access to military bodyguards.

Al-Sari is a regional scientific and technical expert with 28 publications to his credit and is an active Board Member for The Saudi Geological Society.

Al-Sari has also participated in numerous other projects including Building a GIS for Natural Resources in Saudi Arabia (Rowdat Khyraum); and has conducted many environmental studies covering numerousregions in Saudi Arabia.