Iraqi Islamic Party
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The Iraqi Islamic Party (Hizb al-Islami al-Airaqi) is a Sunni Islamist political party in Iraq originating from the Arab region. The party is currently part of the government of Nouri al-Maliki.
The party's current general secretary is Tariq al-Hashimi (one of Iraq's two vice-presidents), who succeeded Dr Mohsen Abdel Hamid in July 2004.
The party was founded in 1960 and evolved out of the Muslim Brotherhood movement. It was banned from 1961 until the invasion of Iraq in 2003. [1]
During the 1970s it started operating in exile in Britain and published a newspaper called Dar as-Salam. Iyad al-Samara'i was elected General Secretary. [1]
[edit] Post-Invasion
Abdel Hamid served on the Iraqi Governing Council that worked alongside the Coalition Provisional Authority after the invasion of Iraq. It joined the Iraqi Interim Government where it had one minister - Hajim al-Hassani.
On 2004-11-09 the IIP withdrew from the government in protest over Operation Phantom Fury, the attack on Fallujah by U.S.-led forces. Hassani chose to stay in the government and quit the party, later joining The Iraqis list.
The party initially supported the general elections of January 30, 2005 but pulled out one month before polling [2] saying the violence made a free and fair vote impossible. The party did however participate in some governorate councils held on the same day (see for instance Ninawa governorate council election, 2005 and Al-Anbar governorate council election, 2005).
The IIP led a large-scale public campaign urging Iraqis (especially the Sunnis) to vote against the constitution referendum in 2005. However, two days before the referendum took place, the IIP announced its support for a "yes" vote, following a deal with the members of the Iraqi Transitional Government whereby the newly elected Iraqi National Assembly would consider amendments to the constitution in 2006. [2]
In the December 2005 election the IIP ran as part of the Iraqi Accord Front coalition, which won 44 seats, which was the most for any Sunni Arab coalition. The leader of Al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Mu'sab al-Zarqawi, condemned IIP in December 2005 for their participation in the general election. [3]
The party's platform for the elections included:[1]
- "Liberation from occupation" and a timetable for the withdrawal of the Multinational force in Iraq
- Enhancing national unity
- Opposing federalism in Iraq, except for Iraqi Kurdistan
- Promoting Islamic values and principles and Islam as a source of legislation
- Opposing de-Baathification
- A "fair and objective" view of the Iraqi insurgency
- Good relations with Saudi Arabia
- Opposition to diplomatic relations with Israel
Following the elections the IAF joined the United Iraqi Alliance-led government of Nouri al-Maliki.
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