Lara Zara


Lara Yussif Zara is an Assyrian politician who serves as the mayor of the Assyrian town of Alqosh in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq. Zara was appointed to the mayorship in July 2017 by the Kurdistan Democratic Party-led Nineveh Provincial Council after the previous mayor had charges of corruption by the Provincial Council. Zara is the first Christian mayor in Iraq being a Chaldean Catholic and is a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Mayorship of Alqosh

Immediately upon becoming the mayor of Alqosh, protests were held in Alqosh. Zara argued that only Kurdistan Regional Government can keep the locals of Alqosh safe, mentioning the situation in Mosul as a reason to not trust the federal government in Baghdad. In April 2019, Zara welcomed a delegation from the United States led by Deputy Chief of the American embassy in Iraq and Consul General in Kurdistan Steve Fagan to Alqosh for the inspection of the Tomb of Prophet Nahum located in the town. In June 2019, she visited America and met with American officials to raise awareness of the circumstances of the Christians in the country.