IRAQ: Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawer, the new president of Iraq, isn't a man who minces his words. He has called on US forces to leave the country as soon as possible, said the new Iraqi government must be fully sovereign, and denounced April's military operations in Fallujah as unlawful.
Such outspoken views are one of the reasons why the American administration fought hard to keep him out of the office. They may yet endear him to an Iraqi public which knows little about the man to become Iraq's first president after Saddam Hussein.
One thing is certain. The man who likes to dress the part of a tribal Sheikh is unlikely to take a back seat in mapping out Iraq's future relations with Washington - even if his post is a largely ceremonial one.
"We chose him because he speaks his mind and every Iraqi will respect that. He knows how to appeal to the Iraqi people," said Mahmud Othman, one of the new ministers of state.
Sheikh al-Yawer's appointment marks an extraordinary rise to power for the former vice-president of a telecommunications firm in Saudi Arabia.
Born in Mosul in 1958, Sheikh al-Yawer is a Sunni Muslim and scion of the al-Shamer tribe, one of the largest in the Arab world.
He soon left Iraq, however, to study engineering, first in Saudi Arabia, then in Georgetown University, Washington, before returning to the Middle East. Acquaintances of Sheikh al-Yawer during his 15-year residency in the Saudi kingdom describe him as a conservative, family man. "He has lived the life of a tribal sheikh, which meant he didn't have to work for money," said Jawhar al-Sourchi, a Kurdish businessman.
Members of the Saudi royal family, to which Sheikh al-Yawer is related, invested heavily in his telecommunications firm.
Until his return to Iraq last year, Sheikh al-Yawer played little part in politics, staying out out of the inter-party squabbling of Iraq's opposition-in-exile When the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was formed last July Sheikh al-Yawer was picked largely on the merit of his tribe which has a large Shia branch and close relations with the Kurds. His tribe is well-respected in the north for refusing to take part in Saddam's forced Arabization policy in Kurdish areas.
"He is seen as a man whose tribe commands great respect. He's someone who can appeal to all sides," said one IGC member.
His low profile in the IGC, until appointed acting president of the US-appointed body last month, has also left Sheikh al-Yawer relatively untainted from accusation of being an American stooge. Indeed, he has found his political voice in criticizing the US-led administration in Iraq.
In April he threatened to resign from the IGC over the US military's engagement with resistance fighters in Fallujah.
He has since demanded that Iraq's government be made fully sovereign, and has supported objections to the current draft resolution before the United Nations of it not granting enough sovereignty.
On the vexed issue of the role of Coalition forces he has said that they should only remain in the "short term". Such views have not endeared him to Washington.
Sheikh al-Yawer's opposition was stiffly opposed by both ambassador Paul Bremer and UN-envoy Lakdhar Brahimi - setting the scene for possible rifts with Washington.
US officials have said he lacks political experience - unlike their preferred candidate, octogenarian Sunni politician Adnan Pachachi, seen as a man capable of weathering the vagaries of Arab opinion and remaining steadfastly loyal to the Bush administration. But Pachachi belatedly turned down the presidency yesterday morning.
There is a deep chagrin among the US administration in Iraq that their man did not get the job.
Officials fear that Sheikh al-Yawer may be something of a loose cannon, who, without a political support base, may be manipulated by the new government. "We can't be entirely sure what's coming next," said one official. For many Iraqis, the spat over choosing the president is the first inkling of the struggle for full sovereignty that lies ahead.