Key Highlights
- refugee agency, its first from the Middle East since the late 1970s. The 193-member world body elected the 65-year-old Kurdish politician as the U. N.
- high commissioner for refugees by consensus and a bang of the gavel by Assembly President Annalena Baerbock.
- Diplomats in the assembly chamber burst into applause as Salih’s election became official. U. N.
- Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a former refugee chief who recommended Salih for the post, said he brings “senior diplomatic, political and administrative leadership experience” to the job, including as “a refugee, crisis negotiator and architect of national reforms.”At the age of 19 in 1979, Salih was reportedly arrested twice by Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party on charges of involvement in the Kurdish national movement and spent 43 days in detention.
- When he was released, he finished high school and fled to the United Kingdom to avoid further persecution. After Saddam was ousted by a U. S.-led coalition in 2003, Salih returned to Iraq and held various posts in the government.
