The
Iraqi Islamic Party is currently the largest Sunni Islamist political party in
IraqIraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , also known as Mesopotamia, is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.Iraq shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria...
as well as the most prominent member of the
Iraqi Accord FrontThe Iraqi Accord Front was a mainly Sunni Islamist Iraqi political coalition created on October 26, 2005 to contest the December 2005 general election. The alliance broke apart in December 2008. [[]] The party's members are mostly Sunni-Arabs, and its political efforts have largely been...
political coalition. It is currently part of the
governmentThe current government of Iraq took office on May 20, 2006 following approval by the members of the Iraqi National Assembly. This followed the general election in December 2005...
of Prime Minister
Nouri al-MalikiNouri Kamil Mohammed Hasan al-Maliki , also known as Jawad al-Maliki or Abu Esraa, is the Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Al-Maliki and his government also succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government...
.
Osama Tawfiq al-TikritiDr. Osama Maukhlif Tawfiq al-Tikriti is the leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni Arab religious party which was the largest Sunni Arab led party in the Iraqi legislative election of December 2005...
succeeded Vice President
Tariq al-HashimiTariq al-Hashimi . is an Iraqi politician and was general secretary of the Iraqi Islamic Party. Along with Adil Abdul Mahdi, he is a Vice President of Iraq in the government formed after the December 2005 elections...
as the party's secretary-general on May 24, 2009.
The IIP evolved out of the
Muslim BrotherhoodThe Muslim Brothers is a Sunni transnational movement and the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states, particularly Egypt...
movement, and was banned from 1961 (whilst the country was under Iraqi nationalist rule), and throughout the reign of the Ba'ath Party (which embraced a Pan-Arab nationalist ideology), right until the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The
Iraqi Islamic Party is currently the largest Sunni Islamist political party in
IraqIraq , officially the Republic of Iraq , also known as Mesopotamia, is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.Iraq shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria...
as well as the most prominent member of the
Iraqi Accord FrontThe Iraqi Accord Front was a mainly Sunni Islamist Iraqi political coalition created on October 26, 2005 to contest the December 2005 general election. The alliance broke apart in December 2008. [[]] The party's members are mostly Sunni-Arabs, and its political efforts have largely been...
political coalition. It is currently part of the
governmentThe current government of Iraq took office on May 20, 2006 following approval by the members of the Iraqi National Assembly. This followed the general election in December 2005...
of Prime Minister
Nouri al-MalikiNouri Kamil Mohammed Hasan al-Maliki , also known as Jawad al-Maliki or Abu Esraa, is the Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Al-Maliki and his government also succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government...
.
Osama Tawfiq al-TikritiDr. Osama Maukhlif Tawfiq al-Tikriti is the leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni Arab religious party which was the largest Sunni Arab led party in the Iraqi legislative election of December 2005...
succeeded Vice President
Tariq al-HashimiTariq al-Hashimi . is an Iraqi politician and was general secretary of the Iraqi Islamic Party. Along with Adil Abdul Mahdi, he is a Vice President of Iraq in the government formed after the December 2005 elections...
as the party's secretary-general on May 24, 2009.
The IIP evolved out of the
Muslim BrotherhoodThe Muslim Brothers is a Sunni transnational movement and the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states, particularly Egypt...
movement, and was banned from 1961 (whilst the country was under Iraqi nationalist rule), and throughout the reign of the Ba'ath Party (which embraced a Pan-Arab nationalist ideology), right until the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Although based in an Arab region, its religious rather than ethnic ideology has deemed the party systematically incompatible.
During the 1970s, it started operating in exile in Great Britain and published a newspaper called
Dar as-Salam. Iyad al-Samara'i was elected as secretary-general.
Party Leaders
- Shura Council Chairman: Dr. Mohsen Abdul-Hamid
- Secretary-General: Osama Tawfiq al-Tikriti
Dr. Osama Maukhlif Tawfiq al-Tikriti is the leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni Arab religious party which was the largest Sunni Arab led party in the Iraqi legislative election of December 2005...
- Deputy Secretary-General: Iyad al-Samara'i
- Assistant Secretary-General: Dr. Ziad al-Ani
Political Bureau
- Dr. Alaa Maki
- Dr. Omar Abdul Sattar Karbouli
- Professor Abd al-Karim al-Samarrai
- Professor Naseer al-Ani
Post-Invasion
Mohsen Abdul-Hamid served on the
Iraqi Governing CouncilThe Iraqi Governing Council was the provisional government of Iraq from July 13, 2003 to June 1, 2004. It was established by and served under the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority...
that worked alongside the
Coalition Provisional AuthorityThe Coalition Provisional Authority was established as a transitional government following the invasion of Iraq by the United States, United Kingdom and the other members of the Multinational force in Iraq which was formed to oust the government of Saddam Hussein in 2003...
after the invasion of Iraq. It joined the
Iraqi Interim GovernmentThe Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the Iraqi Transitional Government was installed following the Iraqi National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005...
where it had one minister,
Hajim al-HassaniHajim Mahdi Saleh al-Hassani to a prominent Kirkuki family is an Iraqi politician and was the speaker of the Iraqi National Assembly under the Iraqi Transitional Government...
.
On November 9, 2004 the IIP withdrew from the government in protest over
Operation Phantom FuryThe Second Battle of Fallujah — code-names Operation Al-Fajr and Operation Phantom Fury — was a joint U.S.-Iraqi offensive in November and December 2004. It was led by the U.S. Marine Corps against the Iraqi insurgency stronghold in the city of Fallujah and was authorized by the U.S.-appointed...
, an offensive at
FallujahFallujah is a city in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar, located roughly 69 kilometers west of Baghdad on the Euphrates. Fallujah dates from Babylonian times and was host to important Jewish academies for many centuries...
led by
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
forces. Hassani chose to stay in the government and quit the party, later joining
The IraqisThe Iraqis is an Iraqi political party led by Vice-President Ghazi al-Yawar. It was the largest Sunni party to participate in the January 2005 Iraqi election. During the election campaign, al-Yawar was President of Iraq, a then largely symbolic but still prominent position. The party consists of...
list.
Government Participation
The party initially supported the
general elections of January 30, 2005On January 30, 2005, Legislative elections, the Iraqi people chose representatives for the newly-formed and transitional 275-member Iraqi National Assembly, which was renamed after the approval of the Iraqi Constitution by referendum in October 2005 to Council of Representatives of Iraq...
but pulled out of the national election one month before the vote saying violence made a fair election impossible. The party did participate in some elections for governorate level posts on the same day (see for instance
Ninawa governorate council election, 2005The Governorate Council election in the Ninawa governorate of Iraq was held on January 30, 2005, simultaneously with the national legislative election. The province is largely a mix of Sunnis and Kurds, but there is also a significant Shi'ite presence...
and
Al-Anbar governorate council election, 2005The election for the governorate council of Iraq's al-Anbar governorate were held on January 30, 2005, the same date as the Iraqi legislative election. The largely Sunni province is one of the most violent in Iraq and turnout was very low. Of the total population of some 2.2 million only 3775...
).
The IIP led a large-scale public campaign urging Iraqis (especially the Sunnis) to vote against the constitution referendum in 2005. Two days before the referendum took place, the IIP announced its support for a "yes" vote, following a compromise with the members of the
Iraqi Transitional GovernmentThe Iraqi Transitional Government was the government of Iraq from May 3rd, 2005, when it replaced the Iraqi Interim Government, until May 20th, 2006, when it was replaced by the first permanent government....
whereby the newly elected Iraqi National Assembly would consider
amendments to the constitutionThe government of Iraq has established a committee to consider a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Iraq.-Current constitution:The current Constitution of Iraq was drafted by a committee of the Iraqi Transitional Government. The agreed text was put to a referendum in October 2005...
in 2006.
In the
December 2005 electionFollowing the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on October 15 2005, a general election was held on 15 December to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi Council of Representatives....
the IIP ran as part of the
Iraqi Accord FrontThe Iraqi Accord Front was a mainly Sunni Islamist Iraqi political coalition created on October 26, 2005 to contest the December 2005 general election. The alliance broke apart in December 2008. [[]] The party's members are mostly Sunni-Arabs, and its political efforts have largely been...
coalition, which won 44 seats, the most for any Sunni Arab coalition. The leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Mu'sab al-Zarqawi, condemned the IIP for their participation in the general election.
The party's platform for the elections included demanding a timetable for the withdrawal of the
Multinational force in IraqThe Multi-National Force - Iraq is a military command, led by the United States, that is fighting the Iraq War against Iraqi insurgents or resistants. Multi-National Force - Iraq replaced the previous force, Combined Joint Task Force 7, on May 15, 2004. General Ray Odierno serves as Commanding...
, opposition to
federalism in IraqThe Constitution of Iraq that was adopted in 2005 defined Iraq for the first time as a federal country.-History:After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1919, Iraq became a League of Nations mandate under British control. Shaikh Mahmud Barzanji led a Kurdish revolt against the British and...
, opposition to de-Baathification and promotion of Islamic values.
Following the elections the IAF joined the
United Iraqi AllianceThe National Iraqi Alliance transliterated: is an Iraqi electoral coalition that is contesting the Iraqi legislative election, 2010. The Alliance is mainly comprised of Shi'ite Islamist Arab parties...
-led
governmentThe current government of Iraq took office on May 20, 2006 following approval by the members of the Iraqi National Assembly. This followed the general election in December 2005...
of
Nouri al-MalikiNouri Kamil Mohammed Hasan al-Maliki , also known as Jawad al-Maliki or Abu Esraa, is the Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Al-Maliki and his government also succeeded the Iraqi Transitional Government...
.
Relationship with US
The party has often criticized the US military presence in Iraq. In October 2008, following a US-backed raid that resulted in the death of a man the IIP said was a senior party official, the party said in a statement that it was suspending all contact with US civilian and military officials. A US military
droneAn unmanned aerial vehicle is an aircraft that flies without a human crew. Their largest uses are in military applications. To distinguish UAVs from missiles, a UAV is defined as a reusable, uncrewed vehicle capable of controlled, sustained, level flight and powered by a jet or reciprocating...
crashed into the party's offices in Mosul in 2009. A spokesman for US forces in Iraq said the location of the crash was a pure coincidence.