Was Nuri Al-Maliki ever an underwear salesperson?

What is interesting this week is that ISIS propaganda and various sites aligned with sectarian pro-GCC regimes kept referring to Nuri Al-Maliki as "the underwear salesperson".  Of course, no job should ever be considered demeaning or objectionable, other than the political jobs, but I was curious about the orign of this intended insult.  It is said that he indeed practiced that sales job in Sayyidah Zaynab neighborhood during his exile years in Syria.  Furthermore, I have it on good authority that a few years ago, when Nuri Al-Maliki accused the Syrian regime (of which he is now accused of having a sectarian alliance with) of war crimes regarding their intervention with rebel groups in Iraq, the Syrian intelligence chief, Muhammad Nasif, said: we now have that Shawirmi salesperson in Sayyidat Zaynab wants to put us on trial on war crimes charges?  In reality, he was an Arabic teacher in Damascus.  (In fact, this corrupt sectarian awful individual who has the charisma of a rotten tomato, has an excellent command of Arabic.)