(Photo: AP) Ibrahim al-Jaafari is the head of the Dawa Party, which ran with coalition of Shiite groups under the name United Iraqi Alliance. Their ticket, which enjoyed the tacit endorsement of the highly influential Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, won the most seats in the election, though not the two-thirds majority needed to select the president outright. A presidential council was sworn in April 7, 2005, and they immediately named Al-Jaafari, a moderate, interim prime minister. He'll also serve as acting defense minister, as lawmakers were unable to reach agreement on a permanent person for that important post. During his campaign, al-Jaafari said his first priority would be to address the violence that has crippled the country's recovery from decades of war and hardship. He has also said he favors a constitution that draws not only on Islam. Al-Jaafari was born in Karbala, the home of Shiites' holiest shrine, and attended medical school at Mosul University. He joined the Dawa Party in 1966, but left Iraq in 1980 when Saddam cracked down on the party's leaders. He fled through Syria and spent 10 years in Iran before moving to London to join the Iraqi opposition in exile.