Najmaldin O. Karim

Dr. Najmaldin Karim "is President of the Washington Kurdish Institute and a practicing neurosurgeon. He was born and raised in Kirkuk where he finished his high school education before heading to Mosul Medical College where he completed medical school.  In 1971, Dr. Karim was elected to the leadership of the Kurdish Student Union.  A year later, in 1972, he joined the Peshmerga forces.  Dr. Karim arrived in the United States in the company of the late Kurdish leader, Mulla Mustafa Barzani as his personal physician and remained very active in Kurdish issues in the U.S.  He completed Neurosurgery training at George Washington University where he still serves as acting clinical professor.  Dr. Karim is a founding member of the Kurdish National Congress of North America and served as its President from 1991 to 1999.  He testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in June of 1990 on Saddam Hussein’s atrocities in Kurdistan, including the Anfal campaign and use of chemical weapons; he has since testified before numerous U.S. Senate and House of Representative committees. Dr. Karim is also the founder and President of the Washington Kurdish Institute and serves on the Board of Directors of the Kurdish Institute in Paris. In 1992, Dr. Karim worked with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and State Department to establish the Voice of America’s Kurdish service. Along with lecturing student bodies at many U.S. universities on Kurdish issues, Dr. Karim has been a guest on numerous television and radio programs and written Op-Ed pieces in the Washington Post and Washington Times. Dr. Karim participated in the Vienna Conference which founded the INC and was elected to the General Assembly. He later participated in the Iraqi opposition conference in London in December 2002 and was elected to the 65-member Follow up and Steering Committee. He also participated in the Salahaddin meeting of the Follow up and Steering Committee of the Iraqi opposition in February 2003. Dr. Karim was a member of the first conference held in Baghdad following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in April 2003."

"Dr. Karim participated in the Vienna Conference which founded the Iraqi National Congress and was elected to the General Assembly. He later participated in the Iraqi opposition conference in London in December 2002 and was elected to the 65-member Follow up and Steering Committee. He also participated in the Salahaddin meeting of the Follow up and Steering Committee of the Iraqi opposition in February 2003. Dr. Karim was a member of the first conference held in Baghdad following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in April 2003."