MESOP : YESTERDAYS BAD GHOSTS AGAIN – ‘Top Saddam deputy’ caught on camera lashing out against the Iraqi government
Associated Press / Daily Mail UK –
The highest ranking member of Saddam Hussein’s ousted regime, is still at large, according to a video posted on the internet. The film shows a man, introduced as Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, lashing out against Iraq’s Shiite-led government. It was posted on a website linked to Saddam’s now-outlawed Baath party on Saturday but it was not possible to verify the authenticity of the video.
High-profile: A video posted online Saturday purports to show Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the highest ranking member of Saddam Hussein’s ousted regime still at large
The creation date is also uncertain, although the man notes that nine years have passed since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, suggesting the video was made recently.
Wearing an olive military uniform and eyeglasses, the man bears a striking resemblance to the former Saddam deputy.
He criticizes Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government, led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and ‘meddling’ by neighboring Shiite powerhouse Iran.
‘Everyone can hear the sounds of danger echoing daily and threatening this country,’ he says during the hour-long address, adding that al-Maliki’s Dawa Party ‘has announced Iraq as the Shiite capital, and called on all Arab leaders to surrender to this reality’.
Al-Douri has been reported dead or captured more than once in the past. He has not been seen in public since the U.S.-led invasion, though audio tapes purporting to be from him have been released.
His whereabouts are not known.
Outspoken: Wearing an olive military uniform and eyeglasses, he criticizes Iraq¿s Shiite-dominated government, led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and ¿meddling¿ by neighboring Shiite powerhouse Iran
Al-Douri is believed to have played a key role in financing Sunni insurgents seeking to undermine Iraq’s post-Saddam government. He was the ‘king of clubs’ in the deck of playing cards issued by the U.S. to help troops identify the most-wanted members of Saddam’s regime.
Ali al-Moussawi, a media adviser for al-Maliki, said the tape is meant to ‘boost the morale of the terrorists’.
‘Al-Douri wants to spread terrorism and sectarian violence under the pretext of resistance’, he said. ‘This will not affect the work of the government or the political process.’
Al-Moussawi said al-Douri is still a wanted man, but that he doubts that al-Douri is still in Iraq because his need for extensive medical care in a well-equipped clinic would make it impossible to hide.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126973/Top-Saddam-deputy-caught-camera-lashing-Iraqi-government.html#ixzz34SOUqUEK
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