Alsammarae was born on 5 July 1951 to a prominent Sunni Muslim family in Baghdad, Iraq, the second youngest of 13 children.

From a young age, Alsammarae was intimately familiar with Iraqi politics due to his family's presence in this sphere.

Upon obtaining his bachelor's degree, he completed his obligatory military duty (required of all men over the age of 18 in Iraq) by serving in the Air Force.

In order to complete his studies at IIT, he worked as a teaching assistant and was able to continue with his education, obtaining his PhD in electrical engineering in 1983.

[2] After graduation, Alsammarae resided and worked in Chicago, IL as an electrical engineer while also becoming active in the Iraqi opposition.

In the 1990s, Alsammarae was elected to serve as national board member in the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee and used his role to work on behalf of those suffering under economic sanctions in Iraq.

In fact, since his departure from the ministry, electricity generation steadily declined to hit all-time lows in October 2006, a full year and a half after he left office.

[12] In addition to his work in the ministry, Alsammarae spearheaded efforts towards reconciliation with Iraqi insurgent groups, in an attempt to get them to lay down their arms and join the political fold.

[15] Alsammarae resigned from the Ministry in May 2005 as Ibrahim al-Ja'fari, an Iraqi politician with strong ties to Iran[16] was elected as Prime Minister.

"Alsammarae's son claimed in the fax that his father was railroaded for exposing Iraqi government incompetence, and feared his life was in danger."

Fearing his safety outside the green zone and cleared of wrongdoing, Alsammarae escaped the unlawful detention and traveled to Amman, Jordan[21] and back to the United States.

[22] Alsammarae, who has been cleared of all allegations and acquitted by the highest appeals court in Iraq,[21] has continued his work in Iraqi politics.

[17] Alsammarae is the CEO of a private engineering consulting firm and lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife and three children.