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Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi
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Iraq's new Prime Minister
Haider al-Abadi has renounced his British citizenship since assuming office
last week, three government officials close to the premier said Sunday.
According to the
officials, who declined to be named because they are not authorized to discuss
the matter, al-Abadi surrendered his British passport after his government was
officially approved by parliament on Sept. 8.
Iraq's constitution
stipulates that an Iraqi citizen may hold multiple passports. However, anyone
who assumes a senior security or government position must abandon any other
acquired citizenship.
Officials with the
British embassy in Baghdad and the Home and Foreign offices in London declined
to comment.
Al-Abadi moved to the
United Kingdom in the late 1970s, where he pursued a PhD at the University of
Manchester. He later went on to become the Britain-based spokesman for his
Islamic Dawa Party, and would spend more than 20 years in exile in the U.K. before
returning to Iraq following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam
Hussein.
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