June 24, 2005

Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri [al-Douri] just had a daughter in Mosul, according to al-Hayat. The article says, roughly:

Al-Hayat has learned from sources close to Iraq's armed groups that the former vice president of the Revolutionary Command Council and the present Secretary-General of the dissolved Baath Party, Izzat al-Duri, was blessed with a baby girl, his eleventh child. She was born to a wife he married after the American attack. He has named her "Tahrir" (Liberation).

The sources affirmed that al-Duri received congratulations from the leadership of the Baath inside Iraq and outside it. He visited his wife, who gave birth in Mosul before leaving for parts unknown.

The sources said that al-Duri is in excellent health, and only suffers from occasional problems. He had a wide network of communications inside the country and without, which facilitates financial and political support, and donations, to the armed groups.

Al-Sharq al-Awsat says that police officials in Kirkuk are reporting that the United States forces have detained "Sufyan," the father-in-law of Izzat al-Duri. They say he is being interrogated at a holding cell out at the Kirkuk airport.

Yesterday, al-Quds al-Arabi carried the following (trans. FBIS):

Iraqi Ba'th Party Statement Confirms Commitment to Resistance
Unattributed article from London:
"Ba'th Party Confirms its Commitment to Resistance Option"

AL-QUDS AL-'ARABI
Thursday, June 23, 2005 T03:09:21Z
Document Type: FBIS Translated Text
Word Count: 747

The Iraqi Ba'th Party issued a statement commemorating the sixteenth anniversary of the death of Michel Aflaq in which it confirmed its commitment to the option of armed resistance in Iraq. The following is the text of the statement:

"With encouragement for the struggle, comradely deference, and ideological commitment, the Ba'thist mujahidin in resisting Iraq and their comrades in the lands of the Arab Nation and the diaspora salute the sixteenth anniversary of the death of the late commander, founder, and comrade Michel Aflaq. Commemorating the anniversary is a manifestation of the Ba'th allegiance and honoring the anniversary is a confirmation of the fighting commitment. It is a remembrance of the founding commander and of his life, his ideas, and his struggle to oversee the future of the (Arab) Nation and its eternal message.

"The resisting Ba'th Party embodies the age of heroism as it was heralded and called for by the comrade founding commander. The Ba'thist mujahidin, who are recording the pages of honor, pride, and dignity of their resisting land and their new nation, nevertheless embody the thought, pursuit, and struggle of the Ba'th Party at both the levels of the political struggle and the jihadist battle from the Comrade Commander Secretary General Saddam Husayn on down to the dear comrades at the broad base of the party.

"The struggling Ba'thists have not, and will not abandon their nation. Commander Saddam Husayn is a fighter and holy warrior who has not, and will not abandon Iraq, its people, or its nation. The comrade Ba'thist resisters have not, and will not abandon the Ba'th Party, the founding commander, the secretary general, and their Iraq and their nation.

"On this anniversary that we revere, we recall the rightful wagers of the founding commander on Iraq, on its leadership, and on the role of the Ba'th Party there. Through the commander and the comrades, Iraq's influence has been extended to the (Arab) Nation in all its various countries. Here, the anniversary brings us back more than 60 years, when the comrade founding commander put Iraq into the heart of the Nation's emancipative struggle. That gave true weight to Iraq, the struggle of its lively political powers, and its anticipated Arab role. He called for supporting Iraq when its fighters rose up at that time.

"The founding commander taught us that Iraq represents the true meaning of nationalism. Iraq today is targeted for its Arabism just like it is targeted for its nationalism, the sovereignty of its people, and the unity of its territory. The not-so-distant history paved the way for the standard of living in Iraq now and the challenges being warded off by the resisting Ba'th Party. For the Ba'th Party, with the brave army of Iraq and its proud people, fought and triumphed against the Persian Shu'ubist onslaught that was based on religious reactionism and backward Islam. How today resembles yesterday and how what was said by the founding commander at that time still rings true now and applies to the situation of the battle of Iraq's liberation: 'The Arab Nation has awakened to Iraq's call and to the splendor of the leading role and honorable virtues it has embodied. Its historical steadfastness is the line of demarcation between conditions of impotence, deviation, and treachery and the new phase that will no longer permit anything other than the honest, open stance with the national truth that Iraq represents.'

"This is a time in which the Ba'th Party, through its struggle and jihad in Iraq and within the span of a short time period, can enable the Arab Nation to once again discover itself, assess its capabilities, and promote its history not just to awaken from Iraq's jihadist call, but to share in meeting the call, carrying the message, and honoring the jihad by the honest, open stance with the national truth that resisting Iraq represents.

"The Ba'th Party, in its . . . jihad [resistance] in Iraq and its commitment to the option of the armed resistance, is not the renegade. It embodies and affirms what was said by the commander founder: 'The Ba'th is, above all else, the love of Arabism and the love of Islam and the experience of the party in Iraq has asserted these ideas actively and heroically.'"

(Description of Source: London Al-Quds al-Arabi in Arabic -- London-based independent Arab nationalist daily with an anti-US and anti-Saudi editorial line; generally pro-Palestinian, tends to be sympathetic to Bin Ladin)