Saddam lieutenant calls for Baath Party insurgents to stop fighting

[ECH1969]

Saddam Hussein's former second in command, now a fugitive with a $10 million bounty on his head, has ordered Baath party bosses still in Iraq to cease attacks, according to government and parliamentary officials who claimed knowledge of the developments.

Four officials in the Iraqi government and parliament, each in a position to hear about largely secret efforts to reach accord with members of the Sunni insurgency, said former Iraqi vice president Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri has ordered Baath party bosses still in Iraq to end attacks within the past two days.

The officials, who said they knew about the order independently because of their contacts with members of the insurgency, said the directive was issued through couriers sometime after Saddam was sentenced on Sunday to hang for crimes against humanity. The four answered questions from The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the information.

In a major concession to insurgents and the Sunni community Monday, the government agreed to legislation that would reinstate Baathist officials to positions of responsibility. The Baathist officials had been purged from their jobs in the first days of the U.S. occupation.

http://www.wkrc.com/news/world/story.aspx?content_id=28D9FA6C-4479-4C51-91D0-8C7B259B812A

[Freedom_from_Chains]

1. Looks like everyone is moving up in the chain of command

now that Saddam is out of the way.

[Barrett808]

2. I suspect this is the result of negotiations with the insurgency

One of their demands must have been to reinstate Baathists, which from recent report seems imminent.

[bemildred]

3. So much for "stay the course". nt

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

4. Interesting...

... I seem to recall MSM saying Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri died last year or so. I always figured he was the one actually running the Sunni/Baath faction, look at their success. Don't take this as gloating in anyway, just my own analysis of the chess game that has been going on since the invasion.

[oblivious]

6. Thanks for the heads up. Worth a google.

Izzat Ibrahim: Saddam's right-hand man
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, whose death has been announced by Iraq's Baath Party, was one of Saddam Hussein's closest aides and most trusted confidants.

He was thought to have been a very ill man by the end but he died, despite the best efforts of the American military, having escaped its clutches.

He was number six on the US list of most wanted Iraqis, but after the death or capture of other Iraqi leaders, the Americans said he was the "single most significant regime figure" still at large.

They blamed him for co-ordinating some of the attacks on US-led forces and offered a $10m reward for his capture.

Four of his nephews were captured in January 2004, two months after the arrest of his wife and daughter.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2333927.stm

http://www.google.com.hk/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&q=Izzat+Ibrahim+al-Douri&btnmeta%3Dsearch%3Dsearch=Search+the+Web

[ECH1969]

7. He released an audio tape just last month

[oblivious]

8. Hard to keep up with him. He's captured in 2004, dies in 2005, video in 2006, now leading the troops

Saddam's top aide Ibrahim captured
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-05 22:26

Iraqi and U.S. forces arrested a man believed to be the most-wanted Saddam Hussein aide still on the run in a bloody raid on Sunday in which 70 of his supporters were killed and 80 captured, the government said.

...The defense ministry said Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri -- who was sixth on the U.S. list of the 55 most-wanted members of Saddam's regime and had a $10 million price on his head -- was captured in Tikrit, Saddam's hometown and powerbase north of Baghdad.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-09/05/content_371778.htm

Izzat Ibrahim: Saddam's right-hand man DEAD
11 November 2005
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2333927.stm

[xchrom]

5. very interesting.

one thing is for sure -- al douri and his crew have remarkable staying power.

this could be very interesting for the future.

[ECH1969]

9. He is believed to have spent alot of time in Syria and Jordan