ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Prominent Kurdish politician Roj Nuri Shaways, former Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq and a senior member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) politburo has died at the age of 74, according to his family.
Shaways died in Erbil on Monday morning after a long battle with diabetes and liver cancer, a family member told Rudaw English.
Born in Sulaimani in 1947, he studied in Mosul and Germany before entering politics.
He served as prime minister of the KDP-ruled zone of the Kurdistan Region in 1996, and was the speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament from 1999 until 2003.
He later served as interim Vice President of Iraq in 2005, and deputy prime minister from 2009 to 2014.
Shaways was close to KDP leader Masoud Barzani, who paid tribute to Shaways after news broke of his death.
“Dr. Roj dedicated his life to the Kurdish cause and achieving the goals of the Kurdish nation and the defense of its people and land,” Barzani said in a statement on Monday.
Barzani sent his condolences to his family, the KDP, and the city of Sulaimani, and defined him as having played a great role in both the development of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq after the fall of Saddam.
His death is “a great loss for the people of Kurdistan and the KDP,” he added.
The British consulate in Erbil also released a statement paying tribute to the late population.
Shaways "was an expert politician and diplomat, his legacy is visible across the region and country," it said.
"We express our deepest condolences to his family, friends and those who knew and respected him."
Shaways led several KDP delegations in talks with Baghdad and other Kurdish parties, the latest being in January amid rising tensions between Erbil and Baghdad over budget and oil.
Outside politics, Shaways was goalkeeper for Sulaimani football club in the early 1960s, before his family were forced into exile by the Baath regime.
