Izzat Ibrahim
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Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri (; 1 July 1942 – 26 October 2020) was an Iraqi politician,
military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...
and
field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...
. He served as Vice Chairman of the
Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council The Revolutionary Command Council () was the ultimate decision-making body in Ba'athist Iraq. Established after the 17 July Revolution, 1968 Iraqi coup, It exercised both executive power, executive and legislative authority in the country, wit ...
until the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and was regarded as the closest advisor and deputy under President
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
. He led the Iraqi militant group
Naqshbandi Army The Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order ( ''Jaysh Rijāl al-Ṭarīqah al-Naqshbandiyya;'' JRTN), also known as the Naqshbandi Army, is one of a number of underground Ba'athism, Ba'athist militant insurgency groups fighting U.S.-led Multi-Nat ...
. Al-Douri was the most high-profile
Ba'athist Ba'athism, also spelled Baathism, is an Arab nationalist ideology which advocates the establishment of a unified Arab state through the rule of a Ba'athist vanguard party operating under a revolutionary socialist framework. The ideology ...
official to successfully evade capture after the invasion of Iraq, and was the "king of clubs" in the infamous U.S. deck of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. Al-Douri continued to lead elements of the Iraqi resistance such as the Naqshbandi Army against the then-occupation forces and waged an insurgency against the current regime in Baghdad. Following the execution of
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
on 30 December 2006, al-Douri was confirmed as the new leader of the banned
Iraqi Ba'ath Party Iraqi or Iraqis (in plural) means from Iraq, a country in the Middle East, and may refer to: * Iraqi people or Iraqis, people from Iraq or of Iraqi descent * A citizen of Iraq, see demographics of Iraq * Iraqi or Araghi (), someone or something of, ...
on 3 January 2007."Saddam aide is new Ba'ath leader"
,
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
, 3 January 2007.
In April 2015, the Shiite militant organization
Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH; Aṣaʾib ʾAhl al-Haqq, "League of the Righteous"), also known as the Khazali Network (), is an Iraqi Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary organization previously active in the Iraqi insurgency and Syrian ...
claimed they had killed al-Douri and his nine bodyguards during a military operation near the Al-Alaas oil fields in Hemreen east of Tikrit. The group further alleged that his body had been transported to Baghdad to confirm its identity on 17 April 2015. Though the story was carried by the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, they also noted that the Iraqi Ba'ath party denied that al-Douri had died, while a Kurdish news source reported that Iraq did not have al-Douri's DNA to confirm his death. Al-Douri subsequently appeared in videos talking about events that took place after his supposed death. On 26 October 2020, news of his death was again carried by both local and international media, this time based on announcements by the Iraqi Ba-ath party and
Raghad Hussein Raghad Saddam Hussein (; born 2 September 1968) is an Iraqi exiled politician and the eldest daughter of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Biography Raghad Hussein was married in 1983 to Hussein Kamel al-Majid, her cousin who later defect ...
, the daughter of
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
.


Biography


Early life

Born in 1942, al-Douri was born in
Ad-Dawr Ad-Dawr () is a small agricultural town in Saladin Governorate, Iraq, near Tikrit. It includes a great number of people from four tribes, al-Shuwaykhat, al-Mawashet, al-Bu Haydar and al-Bu Mdallal. Al-Mawashet tribe is famous for supporting Saddam ...
, near the Iraqi town of
Tikrit Tikrit ( ) is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. In 2012, it had a population of approximately 160,000. Originally created as a f ...
, to Ibrahim Khalil al-Douri, a farmer, and Hamdah Saloum al-Douri. His family belonged to the
Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...
Al-Shuwaikhat clan of the Jabour tribe. Nicknamed "the Iceman" for his humble origins selling blocks of ice, he became involved in revolutionary politics in his late teenage years, despite having had only a primary school education. He befriended
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
in 1963, then they both served in the early intelligence apparatus of the
Ba'ath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...
and participated in what would be known as the
17 July Revolution The 17 July Revolution () was a bloodless coup in Iraq in 1968 led by Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Abd ar-Razzaq an-Naif, and Abd ar-Rahman al-Dawud that ousted List of Presidents of Iraq, President Abdul Rahman Arif and Prime Minister of Iraq, Pri ...
in 1968.


During the Ba'athist government

Al-Douri was a senior member of the Ba'athist government under
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
. This was due to the fact that both al-Douri and Saddam came from the same Tikriti tribal background. When the Ba'athists seized power in 1968, he was made interior minister where he oversaw efforts to sideline political rivals to the Ba'ath Party, mainly the
Iraqi Communist Party The Iraqi Communist Party ( '; ) is a communist party and the oldest active party in Iraq. Since its foundation in 1934, it has dominated the left in Iraqi politics. It played a prominent role in shaping the political history of Iraq between it ...
. Al-Douri became the vice chairman of the
Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council The Revolutionary Command Council () was the ultimate decision-making body in Ba'athist Iraq. Established after the 17 July Revolution, 1968 Iraqi coup, It exercised both executive power, executive and legislative authority in the country, wit ...
prior to 2003, giving him unprecedented amounts of power and influence within the Iraqi political sphere. As vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, al-Douri was involved in the wars against Iran and Kuwait. During the 1988–1989
Al-Anfal Campaign The Anfal campaign was a counterinsurgency operation which was carried out by Ba'athist Iraq from February to September 1988 during the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The campaign targeted rural Kurds because its pu ...
, al-Douri was said to have ordered
Ali Hassan al-Majid Colonel General Ali Hassan al-Majid al-Tikriti (; – 25 January 2010), was an Iraqi military officer and politician under Saddam Hussein who served as Defense minister, Interior minister, and chief of the General Security. He was also the ...
(aka 'Chemical Ali') to use Mustard and Sarin nerve gas on Kurdish fighters in
Halabja Halabja (, ) is a city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the capital of Halabja Governorate, located about northeast of Baghdad and from the Iranian border. The city lies at the base of what is often referred to as the greater Hewraman re ...
. He was complicit in the invasion of Saudi Arabia and the attack on the town of Khafji in January 1991. During the
1991 uprisings in Iraq The 1991 Iraqi uprisings were ethnic and religious uprisings against Saddam Hussein, Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist Iraq, Ba'athist regime in Iraq that were led by Shia Islam in Iraq, Shia Arabs and Kurds in Iraq, Kurds. The uprisings lasted f ...
, he was involved in the suppression of the revolt led by the Iraqi marsh Arabs. When the Kurds rebelled again in 1991, al-Douri warned them "If you have forgotten Halabja, I would like to remind you that we are ready to repeat the operation." In 1993, al-Douri was involved in the state-sponsored Return to Faith Campaign ''(al-Hamlah al-Imaniyyah)'', which sought to encourage devotion to Islam in Iraqi social life. This saw aspects of Islam fused into the Iraqi media, education system and judicial system. In October 1998, al-Douri escaped an assassination attempt when visiting
Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...
. Following the
October 2000 events The October 2000 protests, also known as October 2000 events, were a series of protests in Arab villages in northern Israel in October 2000 that turned violent, escalating into rioting by Arab citizens of Israel, Israeli Arabs, which led to co ...
, Arab leaders including al-Douri gathered in Cairo condemning Israel's reaction to the protests. In response to the Palestinian protests, Al-Douri was said to have remarked "The Jews will be taught a lesson." On 5 March 2003, during an emergency summit of the then
Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC; ; ), formerly the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, is an intergovernmental organisation founded in 1969. It consists of 57 member states, 48 of which are Muslim-majority. The Pew Forum on ...
, al-Douri made a heated address where he accused the neighbouring Gulf states of being "traitors" for cooperating with the United States and Israel. He blamed Kuwait for being responsible for Iraq's suffering and scrutinised the United States of America's aggressive stance towards Iraq. These comments sparked the Kuwaiti representative to stand up and protest to which al-Douri responded "Shut up, sit down you small American agent, you monkey!" Al-Douri, a member of the
Naqshbandi Order Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet ...
, was able to use his position in the regime to leverage support to the Naqshbandi community within Iraq. This form of patronage would eventfully culminate in the rise of the
Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order The Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order ( ''Jaysh Rijāl al-Ṭarīqah al-Naqshbandiyya;'' JRTN), also known as the Naqshbandi Army, is one of a number of underground Ba'athist militant insurgency groups fighting U.S.-led Coalition forces in ...
during the Iraqi insurgency, of which al-Douri would play a leading role.


Personal life

Al-Douri married for the first time in 1968; however, he married five times in total and had 24 children: 13 daughters and 11 sons. In a sign of loyalty, al-Douri consented to marry his daughter Hawazin to Saddam's eldest son,
Uday Uday or Odai is a masculine name in Arabic as well as several Indian languages. In numerous Indian languages, including Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil and others, it means 'dawn' or 'rise'. The Arabic name () means 'runner' or 'rising'. List of ...
. Al-Douri's influence with Saddam was so substantial that he could even levy a condition, that the union would not be consummated, and later made a successful petition that his daughter be permitted to divorce Uday. Al-Douri is believed to have suffered from
leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
and was said to have undergone blood transfusions every six months. In 1999, he visited
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, Austria for treatment. A Vienna city Councillor submitted an request for the arrest and investigation on al-Douri for war crimes, but the government allowed him to leave the country. His son was reportedly killed in Tikrit in July 2014.


Fall of the Ba'ath regime and Iraqi insurgency


The 2003 US invasion of Iraq

On 20 March 2003,
U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...
-led coalition forces invaded Iraq, leading to the toppling of the regime of President Saddam Hussein on 9 April 2003. Following the fall of
Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
, al-Douri went into hiding. U.S. officials claimed that he was involved in the subsequent Iraqi insurgency against U.S. forces, directing and funding attacks, as well as brokering an alliance between Ba'athist insurgents and militant Islamists. In November 2003, the U.S.-led coalition issued a US$10 million bounty for any information leading to al-Douri's apprehension by authorities in response to coordinating attacks against
Coalition forces The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...
. One of al-Douri's wives and a daughter were captured in the same month, to be questioned about his whereabouts. Al-Douri was made the King of Clubs in the famous
most-wanted Iraqi playing cards During the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a United States–led coalition, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency developed a set of playing cards to help troops identify the most-wanted members of President Saddam Hussein's government, mostly high-ran ...
, making him among the top 8 "most wanted" figures in Saddam Hussein's regime. At the time of the
invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...
, al-Douri, along with Saddam and Vice President
Taha Yassin Ramadan Taha Yassin Ramadan al-Jazrawi (; 20 February 1938 – 20 March 2007) was an Iraqi military officer and politician who served as the vice president of Iraq from March 1991 to the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003 and the commander of the Pop ...
, were among the three surviving plotters who had brought the Ba'ath Party to power in a coup in 1968.


The Iraqi insurgency and disappearance

In an interview in May 2008, al-Douri detailed his strategy, indicating that "any negotiations with the invaders without it represents a desertion and treason, and is refused by all national, Pan-Arab and Islamic factions of the resistance." During the interview, al-Douri made the following demands: # An official pronounced recognition of the armed and unarmed national resistance, including all its factions and (political) parties, as the sole legitimate representative of the people of Iraq # An official declaration of unconditional withdrawal from Iraq by the U.S. leadership # Declaring null and void all the political and legislative institutions, as well as all the laws and legislation issued by them, since the occupation, with the de-Ba'athfication law in the forefront, and compensating all who were adversely affected by them # A stop to raids, prosecutions, arrests, killings and displacement # Release of all
prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
(POWs), prisoners and detainees without exception and compensating all for their physical and psychological damage # Reinstating the army and the national security forces in service in accordance with their preoccupation laws and regulations, and compensating all who were adversely affected by dissolving them # A pledge to compensate Iraq for all the material and moral losses it incurred because of the occupation Al-Douri was reportedly the head of the Iraqi resistance group
Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order The Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order ( ''Jaysh Rijāl al-Ṭarīqah al-Naqshbandiyya;'' JRTN), also known as the Naqshbandi Army, is one of a number of underground Ba'athist militant insurgency groups fighting U.S.-led Coalition forces in ...
as well as the
Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation The Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation (a.k.a. Supreme Council of Jihad and Liberation or SCJL or Ba'athist Loyalists) is an Iraqi front comprising some 23 militia groups formed in October 2007 and were led by former Iraqi vice president a ...
based on his longstanding positions of leadership in the
Naqshbandi Naqshbandi (Persian: نقشبندیه) is a major Sufi order within Sunni Islam, named after its 14th-century founder, Baha' al-Din Naqshband. Practitioners, known as Naqshbandis, trace their spiritual lineage (silsila) directly to the Prophet ...
sect in Iraq.


Whereabouts

Sometime after the Fall of Baghdad, al-Douri evaded capture and went into hiding. There are many different reports on his whereabouts. Several sources close to al-Douri's family reported to
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
that they had not heard of al-Douri since April 2003 and did not know where he was hiding. According to veteran intelligence consultant
Malcolm Nance Malcolm Wrightson Nance (born 1961) is an American author and media pundit. He is a former United States Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer specializing in naval cryptology. Nance is an intelligence and foreign policy analyst who frequently discu ...
and a U.S. telegram cable, al-Douri and the
Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council The Revolutionary Command Council () was the ultimate decision-making body in Ba'athist Iraq. Established after the 17 July Revolution, 1968 Iraqi coup, It exercised both executive power, executive and legislative authority in the country, wit ...
were rumoured to have developed deep relations with
Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad (6 October 193010 June 2000) was a Syrian politician and military officer who was the president of Syria from 1971 until Death and state funeral of Hafez al-Assad, his death in 2000. He was previously the Prime Minister of Syria ...
and the Syrian Ba'ath party, despite historical differences between the two Ba'ath factions. Al-Douri urged Saddam to open oil pipelines with Syria, building a financial relationship with the Assad family.REVENGING AFLAQ (I): FORMER IRAQI BAATHISTS IN SYRIA -- WHO ARE THESE GUYS?
. ''WikiLeaks''
Nance would also allege that al-Douri fled to Syria after the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, where he organised the National Command of the Islamic Resistance which co-ordinated major combat operations during the Iraqi insurgency. The
RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...
reported prior to the
capture of Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein, the deposed president of Iraq, was captured by the United States military in the town of Ad-Dawr, Iraq on 13 December 2003. The military operation to capture him was codenamed Operation Red Dawn, named after the 1984 American fi ...
, al-Douri served as "Saddam’s point of contact in
Diyala Governorate Diyala Governorate ( ) or Diyala Province is a Governorates of Iraq, governorate in northeastern Iraq. Provincial Government *Governor: Muthanna al-Tamimi *Deputy Governor: Mohammed Jassim al-Jubouri Council Geography Diyala Governorate ...
" and that he had visited Diyala twice to meet with leaders to organize the insurgency inside Iraq. There were reports from
al-Hayat ''Al-Hayat'' ( ''Life'') was an Arabic newspaper based in Beirut from its founding 28 January 1946 to 1976 and in London after its refounding in 1988. It was a pan-Arab newspaper owned by Saudi Prince Khalid bin Sultan, that had a circulation ...
that al-Douri was allegedly in Mosul visiting his wife, before fleeing to an undisclosed location.
NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...
reported that al-Douri was rumoured to be hiding in Syria or elsewhere. In 2007, Iraqi security forces raided a hideout in Tikrit belonging to al-Douri, the raid was based on "confirmed intelligence" that al-Douri was holding meetings with his aides at the hideout. Al-Douri however was not caught. In early 2007, Iraqi President
Jalal Talabani Jalal Talabani (; ; 1933 – 3 October 2017) was an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the sixth president of Iraq from 2005 to 2014, as well as the president of the Governing Council of Iraq. Talabani was the founder and secretary-gene ...
claimed al-Douri was not in Syria, but that he was in
Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...
, saying that the Iraqi government has had this information for a while and had been tracing al-Douri's movements. A U.S. intelligence source told the
Long War Journal ''FDD's Long War Journal'' (LWJ) is an American news website, also described as a blog, which reports on the War on terror. The site is operated by Public Multimedia Incorporated (PMI), a non-profit media organization established in 2007. ...
, that al-Douri was being sheltered in northern Iraq. Iraqi tribal expert and senior fellow at the
United States Institute of Peace The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) is an American independent, nonprofit, national institute funded by the U.S. Congress and tasked with promoting conflict resolution and prevention worldwide. See alsPDF on USIP website. It provides rese ...
, Amatzia Baram, claimed that al-Douri is likely in hiding somewhere between Mosul and the Turkish border. Middle East expert
Juan Cole John Ricardo Irfan "Juan" Cole (born October 23, 1952) is an American academic and commentator on the modern Middle East and South Asia. Dead link; no archive located. He is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University ...
believes that al-Douri is likely in the Mosul area and not Syria. The U.S. claimed that al-Douri resurfaced in Syria in 2008, however, ''Al-Mawqif Al-Arabi'', an Egyptian newspaper which interviewed al-Douri that same year, told reporters that he was "on the battlefield" and on a "combat field while weapons were talking", presumably meaning he was still fighting in Iraq. The
Combating Terrorism Center The Combating Terrorism Center is an academic institution at the United States Military Academy (USMA) in West Point, New York that provides education, research and policy analysis in the specialty areas of terrorism, counterterrorism, homeland ...
reported that al-Douri was still "politically active within Iraq."
The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
reported that it was believed that al-Douri was hiding somewhere in Iraq. Likewise,
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
reported that it was believed that al-Douri was hiding around Mosul or Tikrit. Other reports claimed that al-Douri was in the Iraqi town of Ad-Dawr and
Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...
.
General David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born 7 November 1952) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general who served as the fourth director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 2011 until his resignation in November 2012. Pri ...
who was at the time heading the
United States Central Command The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilit ...
, told reporters from
Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...
that al-Douri was still residing in
Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...
with "complete freedom". The Syrian government denied that al-Douri was residing in Syria. Iraqi Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki (; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is an Iraqi politician and leader of the Islamic Dawa Party since 2007. He served as the Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and as Vice President ...
claimed to U.S. officials that a Syrian offered to show him al-Douri's home in Damascus during a visit. However, Iraqi intelligence sources in 2009 have emphasized that al-Douri was residing in the southern suburbs of Diyala in an
Islamic State of Iraq The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI; ') was a Salafi jihadist militant organization that fought the forces of the U.S.-led coalition during the Iraqi insurgency. The organization aimed to overthrow the Iraqi federal government and establish an ...
stronghold. Unconfirmed speculations located al-Douri somewhere in Gulf or the southern Arabian Peninsula, or in Qatar, while other theories claimed that al-Douri had stayed in Iraq permanently since 2003, or that he had "a number of safe houses in and around Muqdadiya." Despite allegations from U.S. and Iraqi officials that al-Douri was residing in Syria, al-Douri had opposed and even attempted to oust the Syrian-backed Iraqi Ba'athist,
Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed al-Muwali (), also known by his pseudonym Khadr al-Sabahi, is an Iraqi former military officer and former senior member of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party. Ahmed currently has a million-dollar bounty placed on his head as one o ...
, from the party and he had also criticized the Syrian government for being part of an American conspiracy to undermine the Iraqi Ba'ath Party. Furthermore, analysts have noted that "Douri deeply distrusts working with the Syrians because he distrusts the Iranians, who are strong allies with Syria". In an interview on 26 May 2008, al-Douri boasted that his resistance was not supported or incubated by any outside powers. Some leaders such as former national security advisor
Mowaffak al-Rubaie Mowaffak Baker al-Rubaie (alternative transliterations Muwaffaq al Rubaie and Muwaffaq al-Rubay'i) () is an Iraqi politician, and was Iraq National Security Advisor in the government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and in 2005–2006 Prime Minister ...
and former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have accused the Assad government of harbouring and supporting Iraqi militants. A charge Syria heavily denies and demands be proven with evidence. While U.S. telegram cable claimed by at least October 2009 that al-Douri was no longer part of the "former regime elements" living in Syria, U.S. intelligence believed al-Douri operated out of Syria until the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, when he may have moved to safe houses across the North-western Iraq province of
Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...
. Malcolm Nance, however claims that al-Douri was still in Syria by as late as 2013, before moving to Tikrit in 2014.


Iraqi insurgency and resurfacing

On 10 November 2011, a man claiming to be Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri released an audio tape condemning a recent arrest campaign targeting suspected Ba'ath Party members. The first visual evidence of his survival surfaced on 7 April 2012 when a video posted online showed him giving a speech. In the shots, he is seen wearing an olive Saddam-era military uniform (with the rank of Field Marshal) and glasses, denouncing the Shiite-led government in Baghdad and interference in Iraqi politics by regional
Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...
powerhouse
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. "Everyone can hear the sounds of danger echoing daily and threatening this country," al-Douri says during the hour-long broadcast. Prime Minister Maliki's personal adviser, Ali al-Moussawi, said the tape had a propaganda function but that he doubted al-Douri was still in Iraq as he required extensive medical care for a number of illnesses. On 5 January 2013, a 53-minute video was released on
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
in which al-Douri encouraged recent Sunni protests in
Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...
and Anbar Governorates against Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki (; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is an Iraqi politician and leader of the Islamic Dawa Party since 2007. He served as the Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and as Vice President ...
, saying that "the people of Iraq and all its nationalist and Islamic forces support you until the realization of your just demands for the fall of the Safavid-Persian alliance." The message, which showed the Ba'athist leader sitting behind a desk with a small
Saddam Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until his overthrow in 2003 during the U.S. invasion of Iraq. He previously served as the vi ...
-era Iraqi flag on it, was partially broadcast on the
Al Arabiya Arabiya (, transliterated: '; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is a Saudi state-owned international Arabic news television channel. It is based in Riyadh and is a subsidiary of MBC Group. The channel is a flagship of the media c ...
news channel. In the video, released just before the Iraqi Army Day on 6 January, Douri claimed to be somewhere in Iraq's
Babil Governorate Babylon Governorate or Babil Province ( ''Muḥāfaẓa Bābil'') is a governorates of Iraq, governorate in central Iraq. It has an area of , The population in Babil for 2023 is 1,820,700. The provincial capital is the city of Al Hillah, Hillah, ...
. However, former U.S. intelligence officials believe it was filmed in Damascus, Syria. Hours after the tape was released, Iraqi military intelligence arrested Abdul Rahman Mohammed Ibrahim, the nephew of al-Douri, in
Saladin Governorate The Saladin, Salah ad Din, or Salah Al-Din Governorate (, ) is one of Iraq's 19 governorates, north of Baghdad. It has an area of , with an estimated population of 1,042,200 people in 2003. It is made up of 8 districts, with the capital being T ...
. In April 2013, the Iraqi government claimed to be closing in on al-Douri, who they claimed was moving between Tikrit and the towns of Hawija and Dour, which is alleged to be an area of strong support for al-Douri, and also where he is claimed to have owned a villa. In 2014, al-Douri returned to Tikrit during the Iraqi Civil War.


The fall of Mosul and Iraqi Civil War

Al-Douri played a role in the Northern Iraq Offensive as commander of the
Naqshbandi Army The Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order ( ''Jaysh Rijāl al-Ṭarīqah al-Naqshbandiyya;'' JRTN), also known as the Naqshbandi Army, is one of a number of underground Ba'athism, Ba'athist militant insurgency groups fighting U.S.-led Multi-Nat ...
. Reports soon surfaced that he had links with the jihadist group
ISIL The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signif ...
, helping them take the city of
Tikrit Tikrit ( ) is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. In 2012, it had a population of approximately 160,000. Originally created as a f ...
and coordinating attacks against Iraqi security forces. On 13 June, a Twitter account, @wikibaghdadi, claimed a "Meeting between ISIS and Naqshbandi Army near al-Qayara area south of Mosul had taken place with representatives from Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri and
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri (28 July 1971 – 27 October 2019), commonly known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was an Iraqi militant leader who was the founder and first leader of the Islamic State (IS), who proclaimed hims ...
." In July 2014, al-Douri issued an audio recording praising "the heroes and knights of al Qaeda and the Islamic State" forces in attacking Iraqi government positions within
Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...
,
Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...
, Diyala, and
Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...
Governorates. His connections with Islamist elements in Iraq is said to have emerged as far back as during Saddam's regime. According to the '' Soufan Group'', al-Douri had close ties with senior ISIL officials
Abu Muslim al-Turkmani Fadel Ahmed Abdullah al-Hiyali (died 18 August 2015), better known by his noms de guerre Abu Muslim al-Turkmani (), Haji Mutazz, or Abu Mutaz al-Qurashi, was the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) governor for territories held by the or ...
and Abu Ayman al-Iraqi. Both men had served in the Ba'athist regime under
Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...
, with al-Turkmani being a Lieutenant colonel and serving in the ''
Istikhbarat The Iraqi Directorate of General Military Intelligence (DGMI) () was the military intelligence service of Iraq from 1932 to 2003. Its responsibilities included: * Tactical and strategic reconnaissance of regimes hostile to Iraq; * Providing in ...
'' and
Special Republican Guard The Iraqi Special Republican Guard (SRG) (), also known as the Special Forces Brigade of the Presidential Palace, Republican Guard Special Protection Forces, or the Golden Division, was an elite praetorian guard unit founded in either early 199 ...
. Al-Iraqi had been a Colonel in Iraq's Air Defense Intelligence. Al-Douri has been pointed out as one of the main commanders responsible for successful takeover by resistance groups of North Iraq and the city of Mosul in June 2014. The Naqshbandi Army, along with other groups led by former Ba'ath officers, are reported to have assumed an increasingly large role in the governance and administration of occupied cities. Militants were reported to have appointed fellow Ba'ath generals Azhar al-Obeidi and Ahmed Abdul Rashid as the governors of Mosul and Tikrit. Shortly afterwards, unverified reports emerged that the Ba'ath Party, under al-Douri's leadership, declared war on ISIL in response to the displacement of Christians from Mosul. Other reports still maintained that there was a limited degree of cooperation between the two groups.


Iraqi Civil War and resurfacing

In May 2015, an audio recording alleging to be that of al-Douri, criticized both IS and Iran. He also hailed the Saudi-led alliance targeting the
Houthi The Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaydi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely ...
militias in Yemen. On IS he stated "We do cross paths ... but what stops us from meeting is that even if we wanted to, they would not accept because they consider the Ba'ath infidels". He claimed that the group was detaining a third of the Ba'ath's command, and then went on to claim the number of IS victims in Iraq "does not equal 1% of those killed by the
militias A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or serve ...
". On Iran, al-Douri called for the "Iraqis in
Al-Anbar Al Anbar Governorate (; ''muḥāfaẓat al-’Anbār''), or Anbar Province, is the largest governorate in Iraq by area. Encompassing much of the country's western territory, it shares borders with Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The population ...
and
Karbala Karbala is a major city in central Iraq. It is the capital of Karbala Governorate. With an estimated population of 691,100 people in 2024, Karbala is the second largest city in central Iraq, after Baghdad. The city is located about southwest ...
to strongly fight the Persian criminal plan, which aims at swallowing Iraq." He stressed that Iran is the main player in Iraq and it is working through the
Quds Force The Quds Force () is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It specializes in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Fo ...
. In October 2015, it was reported that al-Douri's Naqshbandi Army was involved in secret discussions with the Iraqi government, alongside other insurgent groups, as part of a move to create a new Sunni force to fight IS in Iraq. On 7 April 2016, he released a video in which he sits at a desk in military uniform, flanked by two bodyguards and reads a statement. He calls on 'mujahideen' in Iraq to fight the Shia militias and combat Iranian influence in Iraq under the Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism created by Saudi Arabia on 15 December 2015. He said: "We consider everything that is happening in Iraq from Iran, its agents, militias, and its security apparatus, is the responsibility of the United States". He added: "If it .S.did not move to save Iraq and its people from Iran's hegemony, control and occupation, and to stop bloodshed, destruction, burning and the changing demographic, then Iraqi people should resist he occupation" He stated that one of the ways to deal with the issue in Yemen was to make Iran and its allies adhere to the Security Council decision on ceasefire. On 7 April 2018, al-Douri released a new video commemorating the 71st anniversary of the Baath party and vowing that U.S. President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
"will never attack Iran until the Resurrection Day." In an article published by
NRT News Nalia Radio and Television (NRT) is a media network in the Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governor ...
, an Iraqi politician, Hassan Alawi, claimed to have had information about previous meetings of Al-Douri in the
Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...
of Iraq, claiming “he never left the homeland”.


Allegations of death

In November 2005, Arab media reported that al-Douri died of natural causes, probably in Iraq. On 17 April 2015, al-Douri allegedly died during a military operation conducted by the Iraqi Army near Al-Alaas oil fields in
Hamrin Mountains The Hamrin Mountains (, ) are a small mountain ridge in northeast Iraq. The westernmost ripple of the Zagros Mountains, the Hamrin mountains extend from the Diyala Governorate bordering Iran, northwest to the Tigris river, crossing northern Sala ...
, east of Tikrit. Iraqi security forces and Shia militias opened fire at a convoy believed to be carrying al-Douri and nine bodyguards, resulting in a 25-minute firefight. General Haider al-Basri, a senior Iraqi commander, announced to state television that the man believed to be al-Douri and his guards were killed. The Shi'ite militant organization
Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH; Aṣaʾib ʾAhl al-Haqq, "League of the Righteous"), also known as the Khazali Network (), is an Iraqi Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary organization previously active in the Iraqi insurgency and Syrian ...
claimed to have killed him, saying that his body was being transported to Baghdad to confirm its identity. Before delivering the body to Baghdad, Shi'ite militias did DNA tests on the body and confirmed the results on 19 April. The body was delivered to Baghdad on 20 April, with the government starting the DNA tests a day after, on 21 April. The governor of Salahaddin province, Raed al-Jabbouri, characterized al-Douri as a "mastermind of Islamic State in Iraq" and stated that his death would be a blow to the group. On 24 April 2015, the Iraqi Health Ministry spokesman, Dr.
Ziyad Tareq Ziyad (; ) is an Arabic given name and surname. Given name Actors * Zeyad Errafae'ie, Syrian television actor and voice actor Athletes * Zeyad Abdulrazak, Kuwaiti hurdler * Zeyad Mater, Yemeni judoka * Zyad Chaabo, Syrian footballer * Ziad Ja ...
, said: "The ministry does not have any DNA test (results) for any relative of al-Douri at the present time, and further efforts will be made to achieve a DNA result." On 15 May 2015, a Ba'athist television channel released an audio recording, purportedly made by al-Douri, in which the speaker referred to events that had happened since al-Douri's reported death on 17 April. On 21 June 2018, Raghad Saddam Hussein was reported to have sent a note of condolence to Al Douri's family, with the source saying that "Douri died of a hematological illness at a Tunisian hospital."


Death

Several Arabic language media outlets reported that the
Baath Party The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party ( ' ), also known simply as Bath Party (), was a political party founded in Syria by Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar, and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi. The party espoused Ba'athism, which is an ideology ...
announced his death on 26 October 2020. It is unknown what he died of. Al-Baath Party issued a statement following his death, which read: "Today, the knight of the Baath and the Iraqi national resistance has dismounted from his horse". Saddam's daughter, Raghad, tweeted a message regarding Al-Douri's death on 26 October.


See also

*
Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf (; , born 30 July 1940) is an Iraqi former diplomat and politician. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 2001. He came to worldwide prominence around the 2003 invasion of Iraq, during which he was the ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Douri, Izzat Ibrahim 1942 births 2020 deaths Interior ministers of Iraq Iraqi mass murderers Iraqi Arab nationalists Iraqi generals Kurdish genocide perpetrators Members of the Regional Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region People of the 1991 Iraqi uprisings People of the War in Iraq (2013–2017) People sentenced to death in absentia Vice presidents of Iraq