BAGHDAD, June 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Ghazi Yawar, a young tribal magnate and successful businessman, was nominated as president of Iraq by the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) on Tuesday.

   He accepted the offer after US-backed octogenarian Adnan Pachachi turned down the recommendation earlier in the day.

   Yawar was not a popular name for Iraqis before he was selected to be the rotating president of the IGC for June, the last month before the power handover.

   But Yawar took over the IGC chair in mid-May after his colleague Izzedeen Salim was killed in a suicide attack in Baghdad.

   He became a "TV star" in many interviews in Iraqi and foreign channels during the past three weeks. He showed his ability to gain the minds and hearts of Iraqis that helped him to be an equalizer to Pachachi, an experienced politician and major rival for the post of Iraqi President.

   Yawar did not attend the Arab summit which was held in Tunis onMay 22, claiming that the situation in Iraq needs him to stay inthe country.

   He is a leader of tribe of Shamar, a huge and powerful tribe in Iraq and neighboring countries including Saudi Arabia.

   Yawar was born in 1958, the year of the famous revolution inIraq that brought down the monarchic regime and established the modern republic country.

   As the eldest among four brothers in his family, he finished his primary and secondary schools in the northern major city of Mosul, where he lives now.

   He obtained a Bachelor degree at the University of Petrol and Mineral Engineering in Saudi Arabia. Later he joined George Washington University in the United States to obtain a Master degree in civil engineering.

   He left Iraq when Saddam Hussein's army invaded neighboring Kuwait in 1990 and then returned to his homeland after the collapse of Saddam's regime. He was then selected as a member of the IGC.

   During his stay in Saudi Arabia he established his prosperous communication company there.

   According to sources close to Yawar, he was choleric. If anybody said to him that he was selected to the IGC on sectarian bases, he would argue that he is an Iraqi first.

   He is married and has three sons, with the eldest aged 18. Enditem