Mohammed Mujawar

Mohammed al-Iyad Mujawar (محمد اياد-مجور) is a Qatifi politician and intelligence officer who served as the fourth president of Qatif between March 2011 to August 2015. He previously served as the Minister of the Interior and currently heads the Qatifi Ba'ath Party as its regional secretary.

Mujawar served in the Qatifi Civil War as a member of the Qatifi Intelligence Directorate (Idarat al-Mukhabarat al-Qatif, or Mukhabarat), the secret police of Qatif. A loyal Ba'athist,he was able to ascend the ranks of the Mukhabarat where he became a protégé of president Abdullah Rajab, being appointed to the regional committee of the Ba'ath Party in 2000. In 2009 Mujawar was named as the Minister of the Interior, giving him control over the Qatifi police forces alongside the Mukhabarat, making him one of the most powerful men in Qatif. During the Palm Revolution Mujawar was appointed as the successor to Rajab following the latter's resignation, acting as the interim president until the elections that year. Mujawar responded to the protests by ushering in a crackdown on dissidents whilst lifting some political and press restrictions. The 2011 presidential elections saw Mujawar elected as president, where he passed a series of reforms that led to the 2011 legislative elections that were also won by the Ba'athists.

Mujawar helped democratise Qatif somewhat encouraging a free press and political participation, removing many of the censorship laws and making Qatif a multi-party state. He also tried to steer Qatif into economic recovery helping create infrastructure as well as give labour unions autonomy. However whilst he did curtail the most excessive powers of the security forces the Mukhabarat still had an inordinate amount of powers, with human right abuses being reported. Critics accuse Majawar of implementing light censorship which saw the press ignore the human rights situation in Qatif. Majawar like his predecessor Rajab also encouraged sectarianism drawing support from the majority Shia's and minority Christians, whilst alienating the Sunni population. Majawar also drew Qatif away from the west cementing stronger ties with Iran and Syria. Late in his term he dealt with controversies including an economic downturn, protests against austerity and continued political persecution and failure to contain Islamist insurgents in the Western Governate. Two months prior to the 2015 presidential elections Majawar's security forces failed to stop a terrorist bombing that was the worse  terrorist attack in Qatif since the civil war. This resulted in a surge of support for candidate Abdulaziz Al-Qazwini who was elected as president in August 2015. Since then Mujawar has continued to serve as the regional secretary of the Ba'ath party and as a senior officer in the intelligence service.

Mujawars government was racked with controversy, with Mujawar being accused of encouraging corruption, nepotism, and sectarianism as well as retaining the political police and prisons of Qatif. Nevertheless he did usher in substantial democratic reforms as well as presiding over a rather then an authoritarian one like his pressecodr had done.