He arrived in the UK aged 11, unable to speak a word of English - but after going on to hold some of the most powerful roles in the British government, he is now under the spotlight for the wrong reasons.
But after Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979, the dictator began to target the Kurds.
Mr Zahawi used the vehicle to become a minicab driver to contribute to the family finances, but his mother insisted he carry on studying and pawned her jewellery to cover the costs.After graduating in 1988, it was the world of business he wanted to pursue and he sought to echo his father's example as an entrepreneur.
There was also a failed attempt to enter Parliament in 1997, when he competed for the new seat of Erith and Thamesmead amid a Labour landslide.He helped with Lord Archer's London mayoral campaign in 1998 too, but it was brought to an early close when the peer pulled out of the race amid controversy. However, in this early part of his Commons career, he became more known to the public for his part in a 2013 expenses scandal, having claimed cash to power his horses' stables.
But two days later, Mr Zahawi joined the growing horde of ministers calling for the PM to step down, telling Mr Johnson:"You must do the right thing and go now." "But I will go further. I will make a commitment today, that if I am prime minister the right thing to do is publish my accounts annually. That is the right thing to do because we need to take this issue off the table."
In January 2023, The Sun On Sunday published a report claiming Mr Zahawi had paid a seven-figure sum to settle a dispute with HMRC over the sales of his YouGov shares.
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