Howar Ziad was the ambassador of Iraq to Canada. He is also a senior advisor to Jalal Talabani, the current president of Iraq. Prior to his diplomatic career, Ziad and his family had a long history of participation in the Kurdish freedom movement. His father, Kaka Ziad was Vice President of the KDP in the 1950s and was also a famous Kurdish leader of his time. Ambassador Ziad studied at Baghdad College and has a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.