Nouri Al-Maliki is an Iraqi political leader, who served as the Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014. He was born in a family that had a history of political activism and in fact, his grandfather had rebelled against the British colonizers. During his University period, he became a member of the Islamic Dawa Party and before long he rose as an important member of the party. However, the party was at odds with the ruling Baath Party led by Saddam Hussein and their conflicts finally led to Al-Maliki fleeing Iraq in 1979. He spent the next 24 yeras in Syria and Iran during which he built up a group of political allies. He went back to Iraq after the Saddam Hussein dictatorship in the country had been toppled by the US led forces and after a few years he became the Prime Minister of the country. His tenure as the Prime Minister of Iraq came at a crucial time and he was successful in bringing about temporary peace between several warring factions in the country. He refused to run for a 3rd term for the post of Prime Minister.