Well informed sources in the Dawa Party revealed that there were disputes within the leadership of the Party between the Prime Minister, Nouri Al-Maliki and the Minister of Higher Education, Ali Al-Adeeb, regarding the behavior of the Ministry of Higher Education, especially the groups and gangs in the universities and institutions, led by supporters of the Sadrist Party.

The source, who preferred not to be mentioned, said that the Prime Minister told Al-Adeeb that he shouldn’t turn the Ministry of Higher Education into a security institution, run by reckless and aggressive people. Moreover, the source added that Al-Maliki told Al-Adeeb that the elimination and removal of the Sunni officials from the Ministry is a highly humiliating policy, distorting the image of the Dawa Party of “respecting sectarian diversity”.

Nouri Al-Maliki agreed lately to apply the long awaited accountability and justice law, and paying the pensions for some academics. Many Sunni people welcomed the idea, but Al-Adeeb and some of the National Alliance and Dawa leadership do not agree with Maliki.

The Ministry of Higher Education issued a statement to discharge many of the academics in Salahuddin Governorate and Mosul, a decision that was met with political and public protests in the two governorates.

If Maliki considers Ali Al-Adeeb’s policies as too sectarian, then Al-Adeeb must be the champion of sectarian extremism. Furthermore, as you can read in this article, the Minister of Higher Education seems to be an utterly corrupt and despicable person. He is the proud owner of a forged university diploma, as Dirk Adriaensens already wrote in the December 2024 article: “Further Destruction Of Iraq's Higher Education: Blazing Fires, Forged Degrees And Silencer Guns” http://www.countercurrents.org/adriaensens021211.htm. His stooges are also suspected to have assassinated the Director-General of Administration in Iraq's Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research, Dawood Salman Rahim and his son, Hassanein. He is an example “par excellence” of the ruling elite in the new Iraq.

Al-Adeeb refuses to be Interrogated

(almasala.net) is publishing documents of the interrogation request of Ali Al-Adeeb, the Minister of Higher Education, who already evaded the first interrogation ordered by the court. The request to interrogate Al Adeeb was submitted by Haidar Al-Mulla, Iraqi League Representative. Al-Mulla and 69 MP’s signed the interrogation request. 103 documents and statements of Al-Adeeb himself, issued by the Ministry of Higher Education, were added to the dossier, in addition to formal statements originating from the Ministry.
Part 1 of those documents included the questions directed to Al-Adeeb, which he didn’t answer. The questions included Al-Mulla’s request to get a detailed list of all the buildings of the universities that have been newly built between 01 January 2024 and 15 December 2024, and to specify whether the money paid to build these universities came from the Ministry budget or from international donations. Al-Mulla also demanded to get the budget figures for each university, and a detailed list of all the laboratories, and whether they were provided with the necessary equipment or not. He also requested a list of the contents of the libraries of those universities, and asked Al-Adeeb to specify if these supplies were paid by the Ministry budget, or if they came from international grants or other donations.

Other questions were asked, including about the students whose certificates were equalized after 2024 with university degrees, the countries they came from, and their expertise. In addition to the list of all the buildings of the universities which have been newly established, Al-Mulla demanded to get a list of the personnel of the Ministry Office, and the list of assigned officials there, the transfers, their enrollment, and the resumes of the assigned managers and consultants in the Ministry’s Office, from 01 January 2024 and 15 December 2024.

There was also a request by Al-Mulla to get a list of all personnel that was appointed in the Iraqi embassies after 2024, along with their curricula, full data about the officials whose services were terminated, names of the students who were sent for scholarships since 2024, the countries where they have been sent to, their expertise, the students who finished their scholarships and the universities to which they were assigned, and the names of the new students who got scholarships.

The interrogation application requested a list of all the students who were accepted to complete their higher studies in 2024-2011, the names of the officials who were included in the accountability and justice procedures, the university presidents, their deputies, the deans whose services were terminated, their resumes, and all the newly assigned officials in the universities. 

The Ministry responded in his statement of 17 April 2024 that the interrogation was illegal, because “partisan interests seem to prevail in that interrogation, and it is a betrayal of the Iraqi people”.

The petition claimed that the Minister of Higher Education violated the laws of equalizing certificates; that is to say, the Minister gets an approval on a suggestion to equalize the university certificates from Hawza in Iran (religious certificates). Those students got certificates from such kinds of universities without passing high school. The petition also explained in detail how the Minister violated the instructions and the laws concerning the establishing of Al-Rifaai University and the University of Samarra, changing the name of the Islamic University to the Arabic University. Al-Adeeb also violated the law in assigning Taqqi Al-Mosawi and Abu Al-Timman as university presidents in Wasit and Muthanna Governorates. He approved a scholarship for the student Alaa Al-Mosawi against all regulations, and delayed a penalty for one of the officials who forged a certificate (Kamil Yas Kudair), whose services were terminated even after he submitted a plea to the Minister.

One of the interrogation documents assured that Al-Adeeb assigned many officials in the Ministry against regulations, after getting a recommendation letter from political and party friends, and reinstating them again after terminating their services.  Al-Adeeb is also reluctant and selective in implementing laws and regulations for the families of the martyrs, who should get priority in getting jobs.
Moreover Al-Adeeb assigned the wife of the former spokesman of the Iraq Governing Council (Hameed Al Kafai) as an attaché in London, while she has only a high school degree. He appointed her after he got a letter from her brother, a general manager in the General Company for Construction in the Ministry of Commerce. In the letter on 3 February 2024 was mentioned that she is in need of a job because of her bad financial situation.

The Federal Court decided on 8 July 2024 that the request of Haidar Al-Mulla to interrogate the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the Parliament, is illegal, saying that the interrogation application is missing the legal conditions.

Translation: Lubna Al Rudaini

Sources:
- http://www.uragency.net/2012-03-11-16-31-52/2012-03-11-16-33-35/10014-2012-09-23-09-06-53.html
- Almasala.net - 26/10/2012