Saddam's Top Minion Dies
Jim Kouri, CPP
November 12, 2005
According to stories appearing in the European press, one of Saddam Hussein's most trusted lieutenants, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, is dead. Al-Douri's family and the Iraqi government, however, say they cannot confirm his death, but a Baath Party website posted a notice that he indeed died.
Douri was considered the most senior figure in Saddam's former regime still fighting the US through the Baath Party armed resistance. Once the US occupied Iraq and failed to capture Douri, they offered a $10 million bounty for his capture. In recent news stories, he was also accused of funding terror groups in Iraq.
The new Iraqi constitution criminalizes membership in the Baath party. Douri was a leader in that party's resistance movement thereby increasing the criminal charges he faced.
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was number six on the US deck of playing cards which listed 55 of the most-wanted members of Saddam Hussein's regime. The top five were all nabbed by US, coalition, and Iraqi forces since the deck of cards was released.
Iraqi officials claim Douri suffered from leukaemia in the past, but he experienced a dramatic remission of the disease, permitting him to continue as an active part of the Saddam Hussein government and later as a leading voice in the Iraqi insurgency.
Douri often threatened to use chemical weapons on the Kurds as was done by Saddam's regime in the past.
Douri is said to have been born in Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, and many within Hussein's circle considered him the ruthless dictator's right-hand man.
Mr Douri held the rank of deputy commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces, and he was one of the architects of the horrible chemical weapons attack in northern Iraq in 1988, an action that left thousands of Kurds dead. He also took an active roll in killing many Shia Muslims when they revolted against the Saddam government. War crimes charges were subsequently issued against him in Austria.
Douri was considered the most senior figure in Saddam's former regime still fighting the US through the Baath Party armed resistance. Once the US occupied Iraq and failed to capture Douri, they offered a $10 million bounty for his capture. In recent news stories, he was also accused of funding terror groups in Iraq.
The new Iraqi constitution criminalizes membership in the Baath party. Douri was a leader in that party's resistance movement thereby increasing the criminal charges he faced.
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri was number six on the US deck of playing cards which listed 55 of the most-wanted members of Saddam Hussein's regime. The top five were all nabbed by US, coalition, and Iraqi forces since the deck of cards was released.
Iraqi officials claim Douri suffered from leukaemia in the past, but he experienced a dramatic remission of the disease, permitting him to continue as an active part of the Saddam Hussein government and later as a leading voice in the Iraqi insurgency.
Douri often threatened to use chemical weapons on the Kurds as was done by Saddam's regime in the past.
Douri is said to have been born in Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, and many within Hussein's circle considered him the ruthless dictator's right-hand man.
Mr Douri held the rank of deputy commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces, and he was one of the architects of the horrible chemical weapons attack in northern Iraq in 1988, an action that left thousands of Kurds dead. He also took an active roll in killing many Shia Muslims when they revolted against the Saddam government. War crimes charges were subsequently issued against him in Austria.
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