Saddam Hussein’s former deputy, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, who helped orchestrate the Ba’athist coup in 1968 that brought him to power, died on Friday, according to Arab media reports.
Douri, the most senior member of the former Ba’athist regime still at large, died early in the morning, according to a Ba’ath party statement cited by al-Arabiya television channel.
The statement gave no further details. A correspondent for the channel said Douri, who was widely believed to have cancer, had died of natural causes, probably in Iraq. Iraqi and United States officials could not immediately confirm the death.
Douri hailed from Saddam’s home city of Tikrit and was elevated to second in command of the armed forces after helping Saddam to power. He was a senior official responsible for northern Iraq during the 1988 massacre of about 5 000 Kurds in Halabja.
The US had offered $10-million for his capture, saying that he had helped lead the Sunni insurgency that erupted after the 2003 invasion.
Since then, the Sunnis have been at loggerheads with political moves to transform Iraq into a parliamentary democracy. But recently it has emerged that some Sunni Arab parties have suspended their boycott of the political process and are campaigning for seats in the new 275-member Iraqi National Assembly to be elected next month.
Their participation represents a significant shift by the Sunnis and is a boost to the US and British governments, who have been trying since Saddam’s fall to persuade Sunnis to engage in mainstream politics. An Iraqi helping to organise the election said: ”The Sunnis are indeed coming back. They realise their boycott was not very successful.”
The poll will produce an Assembly and government for the next four years. The five main Sunni coalition groups taking part are the Iraqi Consensus Front, the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, the Arab List, the Front for National Liberation and the National Unity List.
Rival Shia Muslim and Kurdish politicians have welcomed the Sunni involvement. Iraqi politicians and Western diplomats predict that the Shia, who make up the bulk of the population, could either fall just short of an overall majority or secure a slim majority. The Kurds expect to gain about 55 to 60 seats.
The Iraqi Consensus Front, the biggest of the Sunni coalitions, is expected to win about 60 seats and the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue about 20 seats, according to Western diplomats. The Iraqi Consensus Front has a strong religious flavour and is made up of tribal sheiks, former army officers, former Ba’ath party members and the Deputy Prime Minister, Abid Mutlaq al-Jubouri, a former general in Saddam’s army who rose to prominence during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.
The US and Britain hope that the elections on December 15 could see the politicisation of some of the Sunni insurgents, because some of the political groupings are close to them. The US and British strategy is to separate such insurgents from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who represents the most ruthless group in Iraq, an offshoot of al-Qaeda.
About 20 coalitions covering 96 political parties have registered. There are more than 100 other parties contesting the election who have not joined any coalition. As well as the Shia and Sunni coalitions, there are mixed coalitions with Shia and Sunni members, the biggest of which is the Iraqi National List, led by the present Prime Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Ahmad Chalabi, a Deputy Prime Minister, is part of a breakaway group.
After the elections, negotiations will begin on the formation of a new government, which could take weeks. Al-Jaafari has had mixed reviews as prime minister and could be replaced by the Vice-President, Adel Abdul Mehdi, a Shia. — Guardian Unlimited Â