On Thursday 29 June 2006 Dr Adil Abdul Mahdi, Vice President of Iraq, gave an Address on "Iraq and Its Neighbourhood".
Dr Adil Abdul Mahdi is currently the Senior Vice President of Iraq in the first constitutional permanent government of Iraq following Iraq's general elections in December 2005. He was previously a Deputy to Governing Council Member Abdul Aziz al Hakim where he played a leading role in the drafting of the Transitional Administrative Law. In the Interim Iraqi Government he was Finance Minister during which time he led the negotiations with the Paris Club to reduce Iraq's debts by an unprecedented 80%. In the Transitional Government he was first Deputy President. He was in opposition to the Ba`ath regime in Iraq since its inception.
Dr Mahdi graduated from Baghdad university in 1963 and has trained as a diplomat and an economist in Iraq and France. He helped establish Al-Adala, one of the most widely distributed newspapers in Iraq and is the author of numerous articles and books, including an encyclopaedia of economics.
