Izzat Ibrahim Al Douri: Saddam's right-hand man dies in Iraq at 78


Sinan Mahmoud
  • English
  • Arabic

Saddam Hussein’s former deputy and Iraq’s most prominent fugitive since the 2003 US-led invasion, Izzat Ibrahim Al Douri, has died aged 78, Baath party sources said on Monday.

After days of speculation following an audio message reportedly from the remnants of Saddam’s Baath Party was ended by the daughter of the former dictator, Raghad Hussein, who tweeted confirmation on Monday evening.

“Condolences... to all Iraqis and all his (Duri's) admirers in the Arab world and around the world,” she said.

This is not the first time that Al Douri, once branded the King of Clubs on a deck of cards depicting Iraq’s most wanted figures given to US soldiers in 2003, has been declared dead by different agencies. He was one of only 10 names the deck of 52 who was never apprehended.

He was considered the closest adviser to Saddam and was the vice chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council that led Iraq under the longtime dictator.

Al Douri, once nicknamed the Red Devil for his ginger hair and brutal oppression of Iraqis, evaded US capture for years, formed an armed group of former elite Baathist soldiers to fight against international forces and later joined the senior leadership of ISIS around the time they captured large areas in a blitzkrieg offensive in 2014.

On Sunday, the Baath Party wing led by Mr Douri announced his death in an audio message but The National could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the message being widely circulated by accounts linked to the party.

The message praised Al Douri as “the knight of Baath and the Iraqi national resistance and the symbol of heroism.”

The unidentified speaker called on his followers “to adhere to the Baath principles…to continue the march of struggle of our people and to keep up its momentum.”

The announcement didn’t give details on the cause of death, but said he died in Iraq. He was previously thought to be in Syria or Yemen.

Like many of Saddam Hussein’s former advisers, Al Douri disappeared in the wake of the 2003 toppling of the regime. Nearly two years later, he announced the formation of a Sunni insurgent group to fight US and Iraqi forces.

The group, known as The Men of the Army of the Naqshabaniyah Order, was made up of former soldiers from the elite Republican Guard and intelligence officers – men who had served under the command of Saddam Hussein’s son, Qusay.

The group waged an insurgency campaign in the north and north-east Iraq, rising to prominence between 2005 and 2008. Their operations decreased as US-backed Iraqi security forces improved security.

Al Douri took the helm as the new leader of the banned Iraqi Baath Party after the execution of Saddam in December 2006.

His and other Sunni insurgent groups then teamed up with ISIS when it took over huge areas in northern and western Iraq in 2014. But within a few weeks, disputes erupted between the Iraqi groups and ISIS.

The latter soon consolidated power, assassinating members of Al Douri's group.

Even after the defeat of ISIS in late 2017, Al Douri’s group lay dormant, releasing only occasional video and audio messages.

But Al Douri has been declared dead before – most prominently in 2015. Then, Iraqi officials and Shia militia leaders said they had killed Al Douri during the fight to drive ISIS militants from areas surrounding Saladin province, north of Baghdad.

A few days later, they distributed photographs of a body they then displayed in the capital as proof of his killing. But in April 2016, he appeared, ailing but alive, in a video message wearing full military dress and his distinctive beret. He read a statement with shaking hands, exhorting supporters to confront “the Persians … under the flag of the Arab coalition.”

Al Douri was also famous for his altercation live on TV with a Kuwaiti diplomat weeks before the 2003 invasion. He launched a tirade of bizarre insults at the then Kuwaiti Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Al Sabah – including to curse his moustache –  during an emergency summit of the 57-member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference that sought to stop the war.

Perhaps inevitably, this public display of anger failed to impress the Arab conference, and the meeting concluded simply with a statement expressing the wish that Iraq would continue to cooperate with UN weapons inspectors.

THE SPECS

Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre

Transmission: Seven-speed auto

Power: 165hp

Torque: 241Nm

Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000

On sale: now

Avatar%20(2009)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJames%20Cameron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESam%20Worthington%2C%20Zoe%20Saldana%2C%20Sigourney%20Weaver%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000

DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin

Director: Shawn Levy

Rating: 3/5

MATCH SCHEDULE

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tuesday, April 24 (10.45pm)

Liverpool v Roma

Wednesday, April 25
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid (10.45pm)

Europa League semi-final, first leg
Thursday, April 26

Arsenal v Atletico Madrid (11.05pm)
Marseille v Salzburg (11.05pm)

SRI LANKA SQUAD

Upul Tharanga (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella
Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Milinda Siriwardana
Chamara Kapugedara, Thisara Perera, Seekuge Prasanna
Nuwan Pradeep, Suranga Lakmal, Dushmantha Chameera
Vishwa Fernando, Akila Dananjaya, Jeffrey Vandersay

Wicked: For Good

Director: Jon M Chu

Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater

Rating: 4/5

Generation Start-up: Awok company profile

Started: 2013

Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev

Sector: e-commerce

Size: 600 plus

Stage: still in talks with VCs

Principal Investors: self-financed by founder

Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

Timeline

2012-2015

The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East

May 2017

The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts

September 2021

Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act

October 2021

Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence 

December 2024

Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group

May 2025

The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan

July 2025

The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan

August 2025

Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision

October 2025

Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange

November 2025

180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE

THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EBattery%3A%2060kW%20lithium-ion%20phosphate%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20Up%20to%20201bhp%3Cbr%3E0%20to%20100kph%3A%207.3%20seconds%3Cbr%3ERange%3A%20418km%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh149%2C900%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Crime%20Wave
%3Cp%3EHeavyweight%20boxer%20Fury%20revealed%20on%20Sunday%20his%20cousin%20had%20been%20%E2%80%9Cstabbed%20in%20the%20neck%E2%80%9D%20and%20called%20on%20the%20courts%20to%20address%20the%20wave%20of%20more%20sentencing%20of%20offenders.%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERico%20Burton%2C%2031%2C%20was%20found%20with%20stab%20wounds%20at%20around%203am%20on%20Sunday%20in%20Goose%20Green%2C%20Altrincham%20and%20subsequently%20died%20of%20his%20injuries.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%26nbsp%3B%E2%80%9CMy%20cousin%20was%20murdered%20last%20night%2C%20stabbed%20in%20the%20neck%20this%20is%20becoming%20ridiculous%20%E2%80%A6%20idiots%20carry%20knives.%20This%20needs%20to%20stop%2C%E2%80%9D%0D%20Fury%20said.%20%E2%80%9CAsap%2C%20UK%20government%20needs%20to%20bring%20higher%20sentencing%20for%20knife%20crime%2C%20it%E2%80%99s%20a%20pandemic%20%26amp%3B%20you%20don%E2%80%99t%20know%20how%20bad%20it%20is%20until%20%5Bit%E2%80%99s%5D%201%20of%20your%20own!%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

Duterte Harry: Fire and Fury in the Philippines
Jonathan Miller, Scribe Publications

PROFILE OF HALAN

Started: November 2017

Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport and logistics

Size: 150 employees

Investment: approximately $8 million

Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar

MOTHER%20OF%20STRANGERS
%3Cp%3EAuthor%3A%20Suad%20Amiry%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Pantheon%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EPages%3A%20304%3Cbr%3EAvailable%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
If you go:

 

Getting there:

Flying to Guyana requires first reaching New York with either Emirates or Etihad, then connecting with JetBlue or Caribbean Air at JFK airport. Prices start from around Dh7,000.

 

Getting around:

Wildlife Worldwide offers a range of Guyana itineraries, such as its small group tour, the 15-day ‘Ultimate Guyana Nature Experience’ which features Georgetown, the Iwokrama Rainforest (one of the world’s four remaining pristine tropical rainforests left in the world), the Amerindian village of Surama and the Rupununi Savannah, known for its giant anteaters and river otters; wildlifeworldwide.com

Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin