Armies of Liberation

Of course. Nothing new except Saddam’s dead.

(RTTNews) - Saddam’s former deputy, who escaped US capture after the 2003 invasion, has been named successor to the former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein following his execution on Saturday.

This was confirmed by the banned party’s website which said Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam Hussein’s deputy for much of his rule has assumed the leadership. In the message posted on the internet, Ibrahim al-Douri called for unity among the insurgents and said Saddam Hussein’s death would only strengthen their resolve.

Ibrahim al-Douri had been declared dead several times over the past few years by Baath sources. US intelligence however dismissed the claim as a red herring. It still remains unclear whether he is still alive.

From his places of hiding, usually from Syria and also Yemen, he ran many of the Baath Sunni terrorist and guerrilla operations in Iraq. As one of Saddam’s closest confidants, he was also in charge of Saddam’s secret funds.

The Baath party announced that henceforth its insurgency movement would target the Americans. Our military sources take this as an order to Baathist fighters to quit the Sunni factions waging war on Iraq’s Shiite community in keeping with Saddam’s last injunction to the Iraqi people, to unite behind the common enemy, the US. It also appealed to the Shiite rank and file who served in Saddam’s army to join the Baath militias to avenge Saddam’s death and build bridges to end their sectarian war. This move is designed to undermine the new Bush master-plan for bridge-building to curb Sunni-Shiite warfare in Iraq

In July, the Iraqi government issued its most wanted list with al-Douri as number one. An Iraqi newspaper listed al-Douri as residing in Yemen, reported as follows by Kirk Sowell at Threats Watch:

Over the weekend, Iraqi authorities released a new list of the “41 Most Wanted,” which is separate from the old American-compiled list of 55. Interestingly, the No. 1 on the list, Izza Ibrahim al-Douri, a high-ranking Baathist officer in the former regime, isn’t in Iraq. According to the Iraqi newspaper Al-Mada, he is in a hospital in Sana, Yemen. Although he is reported to have suffered from Leukemia, he receives regular visits by Baath officials who have taken refuge in Yemen.

The regime denied the report.

In 2003, the Yemeni regime recruited many Iraqi generals into the Yemeni military. Saleh, a long time ally of Saddam, welcomed thousands of high level Iraqis and large quantities of their funds into Yemen. Also in 2003, US media reported that Yemen had purchased night vision goggles from Russia, most likely for shipment to Iraq.

In May 2005, ADNKI reported that subverted elements of the Yemeni secret services had established training camps for exiled Iraqi Baathists to train to fight US forces in Iraq. Exiled Iraqi generals were also quite active in directing the Yemeni regime’s overbearing response to the (Shiite) Houthi rebellion which included among other tactics dragging dead bodies behind government vehicles. In November 2005, Interpol issued an extridition request to Yemen for Saddam’s nephew for his activities financing and directing terrorist activities in Northern and Central Iraq.

Through 2006, the flow of foreign fighters to Iraq originating from or trained in Yemen continued unabated, supported by the standard “influential persons.” Many instances of Yemeni suicide bombers were recorded in Iraq. Also in 2006 a Yemeni court found that it is legal and even admirable for Yemenis to travel to Iraq to fight USA troops and Iraqi security forces, as ““Islamic Sharia law permits jihad against occupiers.” No penalties were imposed on multiple defendents who admitted taking part in attacks in Iraq.

Currently the Yemeni Baath party is allied with President Saleh’s GPC party. President Saleh has repeatedly insulted the new Iraqi government, praised Saddam and the insurgents, and personally welcomed such figures as Harith al-Dhari, head of the Iraqi Muslims Scholars Association, who is wanted in Iraq on terrorism charges.

Update: A letter from Izzat al-Douri was read in the “condolences tent” organized by the Kana’n society headed by Yahya Mohammed Abdullah Saleh. The Iraqi daily “Al-Zawra” said that al-Douri has been in Sana’a for some time and attended the condolences rituals in disguise. Dressed in a traditional Yemeni outfit, he was seen in another occasion with Qassim Salam, the head of Baath party -Iraq branch in Yemen. Some Iraqis said last year that they saw Izzat al-Douri personally in Sana’a and took a mobile phone photo of him.

Update 2:

Yahya Moahmmed Abdullah Saleh, chairman of Kana’an Association for Palestine and secretary general of Baath Party in Yemen highlighted the struggle of the former Iraqi president and his great role in building modern Iraq as well as resisting occupation. They condemned the execution, which they considered a criminal act.

They reiterated the importance of supporting the resistance in Iraq and Palestine and supporting fighters to liberate all Arab and Islamic lands from occupation in a speech delivered on behalf of Azat al-Dori who was appointed the successor for Saddam by Baath leadership. In his speech, al-Dori called on all to support Iraqi resistance against the alliance forces. Sheikh Abdullah bin Hussein al-Ahmar, speaker of parliament said that Saddam execution was a sad day.

An earlier summary to follow but no links, sorry:

In July 2005, Khaldoun al-Hukaimi and Saleh Mana committed suicide attacks in Baghdad. The men escaped from prison in Aden in 2003 where they were held in connection with the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000 in which 17 US service members were killed. On 2 November 2005 US forces in Iraq took two Yemenis into custody, suspected of being part of a Yemeni branch of Al-Qaeda on a reconnaissance mission in Baghdad. Both were in possession of Yemeni passports. Twelve Yemenis are incarcerated in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

In November 2005, Iraqi officials presented an extradition request to Interpol for Saddam Hussein’s nephew, Omar Sabawi Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti, who is believed to be in Yemen. Al-Tikriti is suspected of directing and financing terror organizations operating in Northern Iraq, including Mosul, which resulted in many deaths, injuries and destruction of property. The Yemeni regime claims to be unaware of his whereabouts. Recently the Amman-based Al-Haqiqa newspaper in Jordan reported that Iraqi officials threatened to call in Yemen’s debts if Yemen did not turn over 100 top level Baathists residing in Yemen. Yemen has denied the report. In July, in response to a report in an Iraq newspaper, al-Mada, a Yemeni Foreign Ministry official denied that one of Iraq’s most wanted, former Iraq Vice President, Ezzat Al Douri, was in Yemen’s capital Sanna receiving medical treatment.

Yemen’s statements of support for resistance fighters has brought it into a verbal sparring match with Iraqi officals. At the Sana’a Democracy Conference held in June, President Saleh praised Palestinian fighters who engaged “resistance against occupation,” which Saleh described as Jihad. He then described the situation in Iraq as “disgraceful.” Former Iraqi minister of human rights Bakhtyar Ameen who was in attendance said in response, “Belittling democracy in Iraq is an insult that we do not accept at all. Iraq has taken positive steps toward building up democracy in spite of big security challenges,” according to News Yemen. In October, President Saleh again ridiculed the Iraqi government at a state reception in October saying, “Which is better, Sadam Hussein’s dictatorship or today’s democracy in Iraq where massacres happen every day?” according to the Yemen Observer.

In an effort to stem the flow of combatants to Iraq, in July the regime prohibited men under 35 from traveling via airline to Syria and Jordan without permission. However, after the rule came into effect, Yemeni Abdulbaset Ali Ahmed Bashaiba, reportedly traveled from Shabwa governorate in Yemen to Iraq where he perpetrated a suicide attack with a car bomb in Mousal, News Yemen reported. The paper noted that Yemenis among the Iraqi resistance were reportedly supported in Yemen by “influential powers, (who) work on preparing these youths, by training them on fight operations, using explosives and driving cars.”

A Yemeni is also believed to be connected to the beheading of two Russian diplomats in Iraq and was arrested in Aden with the assistance of Russian intelligence, the independent weekly al-Wasat reported. Three Yemenis thought to have al-Qaeda affiliations were arrested in the al-Anbar province in Iraq in September. Iraq’s central criminal court sentenced Yemeni Abdullah Hussein Ahmed Saleh to fifteen years in jail for “infiltrating and illegal passing of borders,” according to the Yemen Times.

A Yemeni court ruled in July that Yemeni law does not criminalize fighting with insurgent forces in Iraq. Nineteen suspects tried on charges of belonging to the al-Qaeda linked “Zarqawi Cell” were acquitted of the charges of planning to launch attacks in Yemen. The defendants had traveled to Iraq and admitted fighting with the resistance against coalition and Iraqi forces. A Yemeni court found that joining the Iraqi insurgency did not violate Yemeni law as resistance to the occupation of Muslim lands is every Muslims duty.

Just for the hell of it:

Front Page Mag Febuary 2006: Also in November, Al-Tajamo, an opposition paper based in the Yemeni port city of Aden, the site of the attack on the USS Cole, conducted interviews with the families of Yemeni suicide bombers killed in Iraq. Family members reported their sons and brothers were trained in suicide bombings with the knowledge of security officials and had logistical support from top military commanders known for their jihaddist associations. From Aden and Abyan alone, nearly 100 fighters are thought to have gone to Iraq with 22 known to be killed. The paper cited an informed source that safe houses were established in Sana’a to house the fighters until their travel arrangements are finalized. The source said that many of the Aden Abyan Islamic Army had joined Zarqawi’s group in Iraq.

Front Page Mag June 2005: Ayatollah Sistani recently advised the world that a “pact of evil” extends from Iraq to Yemen…Recently, the Chief of the Yemeni Supreme Shia Council stated, “(Iraqi) military men advised Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh to kill Shiias in the country as did Saddam in Iraq.”

Update 01/06/07: On Friday, US troops arrested six Arab “mujahedeen,” including two Yemenis, in Baghdad. Large quantities of arms and explosions were found in the house where the men were lodging. Two Yemenis were sentenced to 5 years imprisonment by an Iraqi court last December for illegal entry and arms possession. Alwatan, Saudi daily, said in a report last month that 17 Yemenis were killed in Iraq recently either in suicide attacks or in clashes with Americans and government troops. Al-Wasat published a report in December saying that most Yemenis going to Iraq are from Abyan.