Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri

Field Marshal
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
عزت إبراهيم الدوري
Portrait of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Secretary General of the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
In office
30 December 2006 – 25 October 2020
Preceded bySaddam Hussein
Succeeded bySalah Al-Mukhtar[1]
Regional Secretary of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party
In office
3 January 2007 – 25 October 2020
Preceded bySaddam Hussein
Succeeded byUnknown (most likely Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed)
Deputy Secretary of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch
In office
September 1991 – 3 January 2007
Preceded byTaha Yassin Ramadan
Succeeded byUnknown
Vice President of Iraq
In office
16 July 1979 – 9 April 2003
Serving with Taha Yassin Ramadan (after 1991)
PresidentSaddam Hussein
Preceded byTaha Muhie-eldin Marouf and Saddam Hussein
Succeeded byTaha Yassin Ramadan
Vice Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council
In office
16 July 1979 – 9 April 2003
PresidentSaddam Hussein
Preceded bySaddam Hussein
Succeeded byPost abolished
Member of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch
In office
October 1966 – 9 April 2003
Personal details
Born(1942-07-01)1 July 1942
Ad-Dawr, Saladin, Kingdom of Iraq
Died25 October 2020(2020-10-25) (aged 78)
Political partyIraqi Ba'ath
Spouse(s)Jawhar Majid Khalil and four other wives
Children
  • Ahmed
  • Ibrahim
  • Ali
  • Suleiman
  • Hamd
  • Yusef
  • Khaled
  • Mustafa
  • Abbas
  • Omar
  • Hawazin
  • Abla
  • Amra
NicknameGhost
Military service
AllegianceIraq Iraqi Republic (1962–1968)
Ba'athist Iraq Ba'athist Iraq
(1968–2003)
Naqshbandi Army
Branch/service Iraqi Ground Forces
Years of service1962–2003
RankIraqi field marshal Field marshal
UnitPolitical Guidance Directorate
Commands2nd Infantry Division
(1977–1981)
Battles/wars

Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri (Arabic: عزت إبراهيم الدوري, romanized: Izzat Ibrāhīm ad-Dūrī; 1 July 1942 – 25 October 2020) was an Iraqi politician and army field marshal. He served as Vice Chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council until the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and was regarded as the closest advisor and deputy under President Saddam Hussein. He led the Iraqi resistance group Naqshbandi Army.[2][3]

Al-Douri was the most high-profile Ba'athist 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 on 30 December 2006, al-Douri was confirmed as the new leader of the banned Iraqi Ba'ath Party on 3 January 2007.[4]

Al-Douri was reportedly killed in action—along with his nine bodyguards[5]—on 17 April 2015 in a large-scale military operation by Shiite militias and Iraqi forces near the Al-Alaas oil fields in Hemreen east of Tikrit.[6][7][8][9] The Shiite militant organization Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq has alleged that it killed him and transported his apparent body to Baghdad to confirm its identity.[5][10] According to the BBC, Shiite militias claimed to have killed him, but the Iraqi Baath party denied his death.[11] A Kurdish news source also reported that Iraq did not have al-Douri's DNA to confirm his death.[12] Al-Douri appeared in videos talking about events that took place after his alleged death.[13] He died on 25 October 2020.[14][15][16]

  1. ^ Преемником Иззата Ибрагима ад-Дури на посту Генерального секретаря партии «Баас» стал заслуженный дипломат Саддама Хусейна Archived 7 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine // Голос Арабов, 18 лістапада 2020 (суполка ў «УКантакце»)
  2. ^ "Saddam's No. 2 seeks help for insurgency". USA Today. 27 March 2006. Archived from the original on 10 July 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  3. ^ Dougherty, Beth K. (15 June 2019). Historical Dictionary of Iraq. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 219–220. ISBN 978-1-5381-2005-7.
  4. ^ "Saddam aide is new Ba'ath leader" Archived 16 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine, BBC News, 3 January 2007.
  5. ^ a b "Saddam Hussein's former top aide killed in Iraq military operation". Fox News. 17 April 2015. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Top Saddam aide Izzat al-Douri reportedly killed". IBTimes. 17 April 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  7. ^ "مقتل عزة الدوري في عملية عسكرية بحمرين شرق تكريت" (in Arabic). Skypressiq.net. 17 April 2015. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  8. ^ "أنباء عن مقتل عزة الدوري شرق تكريت وبعد ماكو ثلج لأن مات ابو الثلج (صور)" (in Arabic). Erem News. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  9. ^ "الجبوري يعلن مقتل عزة الدوري بعملية أمنية شرقي تكريت" (in Arabic). algahadpress.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  10. ^ "العصائب تتبنى عملية قتل عزة الدوري وتؤكد أن الجثة في طريقها لبغداد" (in Arabic). sotaliraq.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Saddam aide Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri 'killed' in Iraq". BBC News. 17 April 2015. Archived from the original on 29 November 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  12. ^ "Official: Iraq lacks DNA to identify body of Izzat Douri". Archived from the original on 21 December 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  13. ^ "Saddam's 'king of clubs' reappears on Baath anniversary". Rudaw. Archived from the original on 26 September 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  14. ^ "قيادة حزب البعث بالعراق: ترجل اليوم من على صهوة جواده فارس البعث والمقاومة العراقية القائد الهمام عزة إبراهيم". 26 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Saddam's former right-hand man Izzat al-Douri dies". The Arab Weekly. 26 October 2020. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  16. ^ "Iraq: Saddam Hussein's right-hand man dies after years as fugitive". The Guardian. 26 October 2020. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.