| Najah al-Shammari | |
| Birth Name: | Najah Hassan Ali al-Shammari |
| Birth Date: | 20 January 1967 |
| Citizenship: | Iraq Sweden (since 2015) |
| Party: | al-Wataniya (coalition) |
Najah Hassan Ali al-Shammari (born 20 January 1967) is an Iraqi politician and military officer who served as the Minister of Defense from June 2019 to May 2020.[1] [2] [3] He holds Swedish citizenship.[4]
Al-Shammari was born in Baghdad.[2] He is a Sunni Arab[2] and a member of the Shammar tribe (one of the largest and most influential Arab tribes).[5] Al-Shammari graduated from the Iraqi Military Academy in 1987 with a bachelor's degree in military science.[2] He also has a master's degree in strategic planning for national security.[2] Al-Shammari later served as a commander in the Iraqi Special Operations Forces and has held many military positions from 2003 until 2007.[2] He retired in 2018 with the rank of major general.[2]
On June 24, 2019, al-Shammari was approved by the Iraqi parliament as defence minister of Iraq in Adil Abdul-Mahdi's cabinet.[1] [2] He was nominated to the post by the al-Wataniya coalition, led by former prime minister and then vice president of Iraq Ayad Allawi.[2] [6]
In April 2019, prior to the nomination of al-Shammari as a candidate for the post of defence minister, there were reports in Iraqi media that al-Shammari has dual Iraqi-Swedish citizenship.[6] The claims were rejected as false by a representative of the al-Wataniya coalition.[6]
In November 2019, the Swedish news website Nyheter Idag reported that al-Shammari is a Swedish citizen registered as a resident in a Stockholm suburb under an alternative surname (this surname was reported to be the name of al-Shammari's clan within the Shammar tribe).[4] According to the report, which was confirmed by Swedish authorities, al-Shammari applied for a residence permit in Sweden in 2009 and became a Swedish citizen in 2015.[4] [7] It was also reported that al-Shammari was granted several state welfare benefits in Sweden, including full time sick leave, while he did not declare any (or for some years only very low) income from work.[4] [7] He has also been the subject of several criminal investigations in Sweden, although he was never convicted of a crime.[4] [7]
Al-Shammari was also accused of sexually harassing a Swedish 20-year-old male while being Defense Minister in leaked text messages,[8] although no other news sources have corroborated the allegation.
The Swedish police launched a preliminary investigation into benefit fraud and civil registration violations against al-Shammari after allegedly claiming child and housing support for years despite living in Baghdad.[9] [10] The Swedish Prosecution Authority also announced that it had started an investigation for crimes against humanity against "an Iraqi minister", whom Swedish media identified as al-Shammari.[9] [11] Criminal charges were subsequently dropped and al-Shammari returned to Sweden.[12]
On 18 March 2024, al-Shammari was arrested by Swedish police upon his arrival at Arlanda Airport on charges relating to the fraudulent welfare benefits.[13]