Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's controversial former — and possibly future — prime minister, is the most influential player in Iraq’s political process.
He heads the State of Law Coalition, the major player in the largely Shiite National Alliance, which in turn is the largest bloc in parliament. He also heads the Reform Front, which led a recent campaign that resulted in the firings of Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi and Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari.