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Agence France-Presse

When Haider al-Abadi was tasked with forming a new Iraqi government in August 2014, just weeks after a lightning offensive by Islamic State, many believed he would fail.
Three years later, the stocky prime minister has transformed what many in Iraq considered “mission impossible” into a success story.
He has rebuilt the crumbling armed forces, chased IS from more than 90 per cent of territory it had seized – around a third of Iraq – and retaken disputed areas in the north from Kurdish fighters.

“The standard view of Abadi was that he was indecisive, weak and a bit too conciliatory for Iraqi politics,” says Fanar Haddad, a research fellow at the Middle East Institute of the National University of Singapore.
When Abadi took over from Nuri al-Maliki he faced huge challenges, including rampant corruption, poor infrastructure, falling oil prices and the threat from extremists.

Abadi was up against “the world’s hardest job”, says Sajad Jiyad, director of the Baghdad-based independent Al-Bayan Centre for Planning and Studies.
But dressed in military garb or suit and tie, Abadi over time announced several military victories while trying to battle corruption by rolling out sweeping reform.
His policies won him supporters.

Analysts say Abadi has succeeded where other Iraqi leaders failed.
“His calm and conciliatory manner and his openness to dealing with a broad array of actors [inside and outside Iraq] stand in stark contrast to his predecessor,” says Haddad.
A recent survey carried out by an Iraqi polling institute found the Shiite premier has a “75 per cent approval rating”, even including Iraq’s Sunni minority, Jiyad notes.

A member of the Dawa party, Abadi was born in 1952 in a wealthy Baghdad district but lived in exile for much of Saddam Hussein’s rule, including in Britain where he earned a doctorate in engineering from the University of Manchester.
Donald Trump praises Saddam Hussein for being ‘so good’ at killing terrorists, even if he was a ‘really bad guy’
Two of Abadi’s brothers were arrested and executed by Saddam’s government for membership of the Dawa party, which opposed his rule, while a third was imprisoned for a decade on the same charge.
Abadi returned to Iraq after Saddam’s overthrow in 2003 and was communications minister in the interim government set up after the leader’s fall.

In 2006 he was elected to parliament, chairing an economy, investment and reconstruction committee and then a finance committee.
He was voted deputy parliament speaker in July 2014, before being tapped to form the government a month later.
Perhaps his greatest accomplishment since then was to rebuild the Iraqi police and army which had been weakened by decades of conflicts, including the 2003 US-led invasion.

Abadi succeeded in mobilising tens of thousands of force members with help from Iraq’s allies, including the United States.
Under his command, Iraq’s forces chased IS extremists from more than 90 per cent of the territory they had seized, dealing a major blow to the group’s self-proclaimed “caliphate”.

And earlier this month, Iraq’s army retook Kurdish-held positions in and around Kirkuk province, outside the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
These achievements have transformed Abadi into a hero for many Iraqis.
“Today there seems to be a bit of a cult following growing around Abadi,” says Haddad.

“One hopes it doesn’t go to his head; after all, Maliki in 2008-2009 was in a similar place to where Abadi is today,” he adds.
Analysts say Abadi won the day thanks to his step-by-step approach.
He also embarked on a battle against corruption and under his tenure several officials have been arrested and tried for graft.

Jiyad notes that Abadi also “deftly positioned Iraq on the international stage” and succeeded in securing the support of international allies.
Diplomats based in Baghdad describe Abadi as someone who knows how to establish himself and command respect.

On Sunday, Abadi visited Saudi Arabia in a bid to ease years of tension between Shiite-majority Baghdad and the Sunni-ruled kingdom.
The trip – which Haddad says would have been “unthinkable” under Maliki – is seen as another diplomatic coup for Abadi, whose government is allied with Saudi rival Iran.

But despite his many achievements, “it is important to recognise the limits on what Abadi can do”, says Haddad.
Iraq, he says, faces “gargantuan challenges”, including reconstruction and the issue of people displaced by fighting, “that are beyond the control of any one actor”.


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Iraq

Iraq’s Abadi: a ‘hero’ who succeeded against all odds

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi making a statement in Baghdad in September, 2017. Photo: Reuters

U.S. Marine Corp assaultman Kirk Dalrymple watches as a statue of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein falls in central Baghdad in this April 9, 2003 file photo. The last U.S. combat troops are leaving Iraq in a convoy to Kuwait, more than seven years after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, NBC News reported on August 18, 2010. The United States is on schedule to draw down its forces in Iraq to 50,000 by Aug. 31. NBC said the soldiers staying behind would be on a training mission . REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic/Files (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT)

An explosion rocks Baghdad during air strikes in this March 21, 2003 file photo. The last U.S. combat troops are leaving Iraq in a convoy to Kuwait, more than seven years after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, NBC News reported on August 18, 2010. The United States is on schedule to draw down its forces in Iraq to 50,000 by Aug. 31. NBC said the soldiers staying behind would be on a training mission . REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic/Files (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT)

A handout picture provided by the Saudi Royal Palace on October 21, 2017, shows King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (L) greeting Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi upon his arrival in Riyadh. / AFP PHOTO / Saudi Royal Palace / BANDAR AL-JALOUD / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / SAUDI ROYAL PALACE / BANDAR AL-JALOUD" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

epa06222229 Iraqi soldiers carry the Iraqi national flag and flash a victory sign after gained full control over the left side of Shirqat town, northern Iraq, 23 September 2017. Iraqi forces and pro-government militias have made gains into the Islamic State group stronghold of Shirqat, as Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of a campaign to take the town on 19 September 2017. Shirqat, about 250 km northwest of Baghdad, was among the first areas to fall into IS hands in June 2014. EPA-EFE/BAREQ AL-SAMARRAI

epa06222228 Members of Iraqi Shiite militia troops fire a missile against Islamic State (IS) position in Shirqat town, northern Iraq, 23 September 2017. Iraqi forces and pro-government militias have made gains into the Islamic State group stronghold of Shirqat, as Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the start of a campaign to take the town on 19 September 2017. Shirqat, about 250 km northwest of Baghdad, was among the first areas to fall into IS hands in June 2014. EPA-EFE/BAREQ AL-SAMARRAI

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi shakes hands with a military officer before a celebration for liberation of Mosul in Mosul, Iraq, on July 10, 2017. (Khalil Dawood/Xinhua/Sipa USA/TNS)

epa06245593 French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi (L) give a statement following their meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, 05 October 2017. EPA-EFE/LUDOVIC MARIN / POOL MAXPPP OUT

Kurdish Peshmarga fighters gather north of Kirkuk, Iraq October 19, 2017. Picture taken October 19, 2017. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (C-L) and Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari (L) are received by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (C-R) before a meeting of the Saudi-Iraqi Bilateral Coordination Council in the Saudi capital Riyadh on October 22, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Alex Brandon

FILE - In this June. 27, 2009 file photo, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, left, and President Jalal Talabani, right, react, at a ceremony marking the death of Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim in Baghdad, Iraq. Talabani, a lifelong fighter for Iraq’s Kurds who rose to become the country’s president, presenting himself as a unifying father figure to temper the potentially explosive hatreds among Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis has died in a Berlin hospital at the age of 83. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, right, embraces Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi before a meeting of the Saudi-Iraqi Bilateral Coordination Council, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

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Nouri al-Maliki. Photo: AFP

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Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi (above) said he was surprised Ashton Carter's comments.

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A displaced Iraqi woman carries a baby after fleeing from Islamic State in Mosul. Photo: Reuters

A member of the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) secures a street in Mosul's Old City on July 4, 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. / AFP PHOTO / Fadel SENNA

Iraqi children flee through the rubble as Iraqi forces continue their advance against Islamic State militants in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, July 4, 2017. The country's Prime Minister said Tuesday the gains in Mosul show Iraqis reject terrorism. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

In this photo released by official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, right, shakes hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi while welcoming him for their meeting at his office in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, June 20, 2017. (Iranian Presidency Office via AP)

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