Muhanad passed away unexpectedly on Easter Saturday.

He had been with IBBC since our inception in 2009—initially part time, and later full time as Manager of our Baghdad office.

Muhanad was an exceptional person. He had a free spirit and never acted against his conscience. He could not be coerced into doing anything he did not believe in, and he was much admired by his many friends and colleagues.

The first-born son of a prominent Iraqi family, he lost his father when he and his siblings were still relatively young. Muhanad always put his family before himself. He never married and had no children.

He graduated from Baghdad College and went on to study English Literature in Britain. However, he was unable to complete his degree after his visa was not renewed following the invasion of Kuwait.

Muhanad loved Iraq, and Baghdad in particular. He could have emigrated but chose instead to remain in Iraq, for better or worse, to care for his family and remain close to his friends.

A man without pretensions, despite being a Zubaidy prince, he preferred to act behind the scenes and shunned the limelight. He was unimpressed by power and cared little for position or influence.

Muhanad was both compassionate and brave. When Baroness Nicholson gave testimony at the Iraqi War Crimes Tribunal and no one dared to translate for her in court, he volunteered. He also served as her translator during high-level meetings with Prime Minister Maliki and others in 2008 and 2009, fully aware that his image would be circulated in the media and that he had no protection from the terrorists who, at the time, were targeting those engaged with Western officials and senior Iraqi figures.

In 2008, Christophe Michels was tasked with writing a report for the European Parliament on capacity-building in the Iraqi Parliament. Muhanad was assigned to look after Christophe, who was the only Westerner staying at the Al Rasheed Hotel for ten days. For the first few nights, Muhanad stayed at the hotel to reassure him of his safety. The two became and remained close friends ever since.

It was not easy to persuade Muhanad to leave his job at Parliament in 2018 to work full time with IBBC—not because of the role itself (he was certainly the best in the Public Relations department, though rarely appreciated for his talents), but because of the many friendships he had formed there. He did not want to leave those behind.

Nevertheless, he brought his considerable skills to IBBC, engaging effectively with members, colleagues, and numerous external bodies—from government ministries to chambers of commerce—and soon built a new network of friends and collaborators who valued working with him.

Working full time with IBBC also allowed him to visit Britain regularly and reconnect with friends in London—both those from his earlier time there and those who, unlike him, had chosen to emigrate to the UK.

Muhanad had much in common with our much-loved Deputy Chairman, Rasmi Al Jabri. They shared a deep sense of duty, quiet determination, a love for Iraq, and a wonderdul sense of humour. No one imagined that Muhanad would survive Rasmi by less than five years.

It was a privilege and a pleasure to have known and worked with Muhanad. We are grateful for the time we shared.