Tayseer Najah Awad al-Mashhadani is an Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

i politician. She was elected to the National Assembly of Iraq

National Assembly of Iraq

The Council of Representatives of Iraq is the main elected body of representatives in Iraq. It is currently composed of 325 seats and meets in Baghdad inside the International Zone . It is governed by bylaws that can be found -The monarchy:...

 in December 2005

Iraqi legislative election, December 2005

Following the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on 15 October 2005, a general election was held on 15 December to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi Council of Representatives....

 as part of the Sunni Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

-led Iraqi Accord Front

Iraqi Accord Front

The Iraqi Accord Front or Iraqi Accordance Front also known as Tawafuq is an Iraqi Sunni-Islamist political coalition created on October 26, 2005 by the Iraqi Islamic Party to contest the December 2005 general election...

. She is an engineer by background and a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party

Iraqi Islamic Party

The Iraqi Islamic Party is currently the largest Sunni Islamist political party in Iraq as well as the most prominent member of the Iraqi Accord Front political coalition. It is currently part of the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki...

On 1 July she was abducted with 8 of her bodyguards at a checkpoint in the Shiite-majority neighbourhood of Shaab in Eastern Baghdad. Her party accused Shiite militias connected to Muqtada as-Sadr of being behind the abduction, and the Sadrist warlord Abu Dereh has also been accused. After being held for nearly two months, she was released.