Thursday, November 09, 2006
Hit list of key Shia figures resurfaces
Security, Politics
Armed groups in Iraq aim to assassinate key Shiite political and religious figures, sources have said. "We had expected the armed groups to intensify their activities by assassinating prominent political figures, since the Iraqi parliament approved the federal law and after the death sentence verdict for Saddam Hussain. This is not new to us, but we do believe that efforts to achieve these assassinations have reached high levels of concentration and targeting" said Hadi Al Amiri, Chairman of the Badr Organisation (the disintegrated military wing of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq). Some Iraqi newspapers have warned that armed groups may plan to assassinate Al Hakim to wipe out the South and Middle Federal Province plan in the Iraqi Shiite south. Measures to confront any plan to assassinate political and religious figures, were taken in Najaf.
COMMENT: This was reported on Oct. 20: The disbanded Iraqi Ba'th Party issued, on September 5, 2006, a hit list of Iraqi political, judicial and military figures, referred to as criminals, collaborators and renegades, targeted for punishment (assassination). The document, shaped as a flyer was issued by the Dhe Qar Directorate of Operation "Special Operations," and addressed to the commanders of the special units, informing them that the order was approved by the secretary-general of the party and the acting commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The reference is to Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, who was Saddam Hussein's vice president and remains on the most wanted list in Iraq, with a reward of $20 million for his capture. Fifty names are listed on the original hit list of those targeted for assassination, including President Talabani, ex-PM Iyad Allawi, KRG President Barzani, VP of Iraq and head of the Islamic Party Tariq al-Hashemi and high-ranking judges and prosecutors in Saddam's trial. COMMENT ENDS.
