Shakir al Khafaji
Shakir al Khafaji (born 1955) is a Detroit-based Iraqi-American businessman. He immigrated to the United States in 1975. He graduated with a B.S. degree in architecture from Lawrence Technological University in 1980. He received an M.S. in Urban Planning in 1982 from Wayne State University, Detroit, MI. al Khafaji is a senior executive, with nearly four decades of business experience. He is Chairman of Veritas Automotive and Machinery, LLC, with an office in Southfield, Michigan. He has deep knowledge of Iraqi culture and society. He was born into a merchant family in Baghdad, and attended  schools with many of the governmental leaders in the Middle East. Over the years, Mr. al Khafaji has engaged in an extensive number of business activities, including commercial trade with Iraq and the Middle East. As a result of his unique position, he has been able to play a role in the development and implementation of U.S. policy with respect to Iraq for over twenty years. He continues to maintain close relationships with business and political leaders in that region. He was chairman of the 17th conference of Iraqi expatriates.