Jawad al-Maliki, aka Nouri al-Maliki, became Iraq's permanent prime minister in April 2006, laying the foundation for the country's first fully constitutional government.

Al-Maliki is a prominent member of Iraq's Dawa Party, the oldest of the three parties in the Shiite bloc known as the United Iraqi Alliance that won the most number of seats in parliamentary elections in December 2005.

"The new Iraqi government will assume greater responsibility for their nation's security," al-Maliki told reporters in April 2006. "It will have the popular mandate to address Iraq's toughest long-term challenges."

Among these challenges include quelling increasing sectarian violence, controlling attacks by insurgents and dealing with Iraq's economic crisis.

Known as an eloquent speaker who is not afraid to voice his opinions, al-Maliki has been outspoken about his criticisms of attacks on Iraq's Shiite majority and of the U.S. approach to fight the Sunni-led insurgency. He has a reputation as a champion of Shiite rights and is considered as one of the harder line Shiite politicians raising concerns about his ability to bridge differences in a country largely divided along sectarian lines.

Sunnis and Kurds accepted al-Maliki's nomination despite his close ties with interim Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

The Shiite coalition originally selected al-Jaafari to remain in the post but reconsidered after strong resistance from Sunni and Kurdish politicians over his nomination stalled the formation of Iraq's government.

Al-Maliki has never held a formal post in the Iraqi government but played a large role in shaping the country's government after the U.S.-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

He helped draft Iraq's new constitution where he resisted a push from the United States to put more Sunnis on the committee and deflected Sunni efforts to dilute provisions giving Shiites and Kurds the power to form semiautonomous mini-states. He also served as the chairman of the Security Committee of the National Assembly and was an architect of counterterrorism legislation enacted in 2005.

Al-Maliki was a member of the de-Baathification committee from 2003-2004 charged with purging the country's government and civil service of Saddam supporters. The committee drew criticism for removing thousands of workers who had joined the party in order to climb up the career ladder. In April 2004, Paul Bremer, the top U.S. official in Iraq at the time, moved to return teachers and military veterans to their old jobs.

Al-Maliki served as spokesman for the Dawa Party and the United Iraqi Alliance as well as the top advisor to al-Jaafari who led the Dawa Party as Iraq's interim prime minister.

During the rule of Saddam Hussein, the Dawa Party led an armed resistance against Saddam's Baathist rule that eventually forced al-Maliki and other Dawa leaders into exile. He began using Jawad in pubic instead of his real name Nouri after he joined Dawa but switched back to Nouri after becoming prime minister.

In 1980, the Iraqi government began hunting down Dawa leaders and sentenced al-Maliki to death for his Dawa membership. He fled to Iran and later to Syria where he spent most of his 23 years in exile before returning secretly to Iraq in 2002.

In Syria, al-Maliki led the Damascus branch of the Dawa Party and managed Shiite guerillas still operating against in Iraq. Dawa officials opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Al-Maliki was born into a middle-class Shiite family in 1950 in the Iraqi town of Hindiya, about 75 miles south of Baghdad between Karbala and Hilla. He earned a master's degree in Arabic language and literature from Baghdad University and served as an education official in Hilla. He is married and has a son and three daughters.

-- Compiled by Anna Shoup for the PBS NewsHour