Ezzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Sufism, and al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda tightens its grip in Iraq

By Syed Saleem Shahzad in AsiaTimes Online, Nov. 15, 2005

KARACHI - The death of former Iraqi vice president Ezzat Ibrahim al-Douri marks a turning point in the Iraqi resistance. Command of the movement will now almost completely be in the hands of al-Qaeda, which will further cement its moves to fight a global war against America under a unified, open command.

Douri, 63, was one of Saddam Hussein's closest aides and the most senior figure in the former regime still at large - he was number six (king of clubs) in the US's pack of cards denoting its most wanted people. The US had offered a US$10 million reward for information leading to his capture.

He died after a long battle with leukemia, according to a statement from the Ba'ath Party - which the Americans have officially dissolved in Iraq. The statement continued: "After 50 years he spent in the militant struggle and in the resistance, Ezzat Ibrahim al-Douri quits his horse going to the mercy of the Almighty God."

Douri was a Sufi Muslim and a practicing sheikh (spiritual guide) of two major Sufi schools, Rafahi and Qadri. As a Ba'athist as well, he was a trusted comrade of Saddam.

Though Saddam disliked such practices. every Monday he would hold a congregation for his disciples at his residence in Tikrit, where they would recite Sufi rituals. At Friday prayers in Baghdad he would eloquently hold court in Sheikh Abdul Qadir Gillani's mosque. Saddam thought that his close comrade from Oaja village near Tikrit was setting the wrong precedents for the secular image of the Ba'ath Party.

However, Douri and his Sufi circle turned out to be a most useful tool when Iraq was invaded by US in 2003.

Douri was the one who established coordination between the Ba'ath Party, the Iraqi Republican Guards and local Islamic groups, not only in Fallujah and Baquba, but also in northern Iraq, especially in Kirkuk.

As many senior people around him were gradually arrested, including Saddam, Douri remained at large, mostly in northern Iraq, including the cities of Mosul, Tikrit, Samarra and Kirkuk. At one time he escaped to Syria, but returned.

One of his sons, Ahmed, became the main financial organizer of the resistance.

For a long time Douri was the acknowledged driver of the resistance, but in the past few months little was heard of him. The speculation in the resistance was that he had either died, or once again gone to Syria. His illness was well known - he traveled with a mobile medical unit that was able to change his blood wherever required.

Douri's absence over the past months coincides with the period in which Islamic groups prevailed over the Iraqi resistance and effectively took control. After Douri, there is no one of his stature or knowledge to lead the remnants of Saddam's era. They have little option but to stick with the command of the Islamic groups.

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Syed Saleem Shahzad, Bureau Chief, Pakistan Asia Times Online. He can be reached at saleem_shahzad2002@yahoo.com