(Photo: AP) Adil Abdel-Mahdi was chosen as one of two interim vice presidents; he'd previously served as minister of finance in the government formed after the United States transferred power to the Iraqis. Abdel-Mahdi is an official in the powerful Shiite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. Long based in neighboring Iran, the group opposed a U.S. administration but holds close ties with the other U.S.-backed groups that opposed Saddam Hussein, including the Kurds and the Iraqi National Congress. He was educated in France, and is the son of a respected Shiite cleric who was a minister in Iraq's monarchy.