Prior to the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Islamic Dawa Party (IDP), the Islamic "Call" Party, also known as Al-Da'wa al-Islamiyya (Iraqi News 2003) or Hezb-I-Dawa Islamiyeh, was a long-established opposition party in Iraq associated with the Shi'a branch of Islam (Chicago Tribune 3 June 2003; Political Handbook of the World: 2000-2002 2002, 526). Information clearly outlining and describing the different activities of the various factions of the IDP since March 2003 is scarce among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. The majority of sources that cover the IDP do not mention the faction to which they are referring; rather, they refer to the party as a whole. Whenever a source mentions a specific faction, it will be noted in this Response. Furthermore, as is stated below, it should be noted that in addition to the variety of factions, sources present widely differing views on the ideology of the party.
Factions
Views on the IDP are very disparate and there is no consensus among the sources: while several claim that the party is "fundamentalist" (The Age 30 June 2003; AFP 30 July 2003; American Partisan 28 Aug. 2003), others describe the IDP as "Islamist" (ABC 24 Apr. 2003), "shadowy" (The Guardian 30 Aug. 2003), "veteran" (HRW 12 May 2003), "well-organized" (Christian Science Monitor 14 May 2003), or "venerable" (IHT 26 Jan. 2004). One source maintains that the IDP is affiliated with the Hezbollah group in Lebanon (American Partisan 28 Aug. 2003), while another suggests that the party's main faction is quite moderate under its current leadership (Associate Professor 1 Mar. 2004).
The IDP is not a completely unified party and includes several factions with differing viewpoints (The Economist 5 Aug. 2003; Associate Professor 1 Mar. 2004). For instance, one stream, formerly headed by a London-based leadership, cooperates with the coalition authorities and sought positive dialogue with the United States even before the March 2003 invasion (The Economist 5 Aug. 2003). This is the largest IDP faction, and it is headed by the "moderate" Ibrahim al-Jafari (Associate Professor 1 Mar. 2004).
A second stream is led by more radical Lebanese- and Iranian- based religious leaders (The Economist 5 Aug. 2003). Headed by Moktada al-Sadr, this latter group is opposed to the American-led occupation and believes that Shia's should "aggressively pursue an Islamic state modeled on clerical rule in Iran" (New York Times 26 Aug. 2003). Sadr's faction is also against associating with the governing council (Baghdad Bulletin 31 Aug. 2003).
According to a university professor from the University of South Carolina - Spartanburg who researches and publishes on the subject of Iraqi politics, a third faction is led by Mr. Mudarrisi of Karbala who heads an apparently moderate group (Associate Professor 1 Mar. 2004). Additional information on this faction could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
Political Ideology
According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, the IDP, whose "fundamentalist" Shi'a platform (AFP 30 Jul. 2003; The Age 30 June 2003) and historically anti-American activities made it a very strong party in Iraq before it was silenced by Saddam Hussein, has recently returned to the forefront of Iraqi politics (Chicago Tribune 3 June 2003). IDP members have been busy establishing offices throughout the country since the fall of Hussein's regime in March 2003 (ibid.). In April 2003, the IDP had set up office in a Baghdad ballet school (ABC 24 Apr. 2003) and by May they had already established a new headquarters in a former Baath Party building in Baghdad (Christian Science Monitor 14 May 2003). The party was campaigning in order to recruit support for its ultimate aim, which is to form a democratically elected Islamic Shi'a government in Iraq (Chicago Tribune 3 June 2003; The Economist 4 Dec. 2003).
While the party's founder Mohammed Baqr Sadr maintained a close relationship with Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran, he advocated a more moderate platform and sought a country ruled by elected officials (Chicago Tribune 3 June 2003). The IDP maintains an alliance with religious leaders in Iran (The Irish Times 16 Apr. 2003; USA Today 12 Feb. 2004). One party spokesman denied that the IDP sought a country run by "constitutional Islamic laws" (HRWF 12 May 2003), and another stated that Iraqis would ultimately decide the level of religious involvement in state affairs (Christian Science Monitor 14 May 2003). However, one source expressed doubt as to whether this non-sectarian stance was temporary and purely strategic (The Economist 5 Aug. 2003).
Leadership
While the IDP is theoretically run by a collective leadership (Christian Science Monitor 14 May 2003), Ibrahim al-Jafari is currently assuming the role of party leader in addition to his role as a governing council member (IHT 26 Jan. 2004). Another prominent IDP official is Sheikh Mohammed Naseri (The Economist 5 Aug. 2003).
Chronological Account Since March 2003
Both the IDP and the other main Islamist party, the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), joined together in the spring of 2003 to denounce the American invasion of their country, but neither party called on Iraqis to rebel against the foreign presence (ibid.).
In April 2003, shortly after the US-led invasion of Iraq, a spokesperson for the IDP said, "[if] the US administration, due to its military might and control of the country, seeks to impose a certain agenda, we will make sure it will not work out" (Al-Ahram 10-16 Apr. 2003). The spokesman questioned the legitimacy of the United States, and not the Iraqi people, selecting the next government of Iraq (ibid.).
In May of 2003 groups with ties to the IDP joined a coalition headed by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to take control over several Shi'a cities in Iraq (American Partisan 28 Aug. 2003). One Iraqi tribal leader, who participated in the American Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, viewed the IDP as a "radical terrorist group" that would "resist any non-Islamic government in Iraq" and stated that the party even had its own weapons storehouses in various parts of the country (ibid.). The IDP's militia is currently involved in neighbourhood security in some areas, such as in the town of Samawah (Professor 27 Feb. 2004).
In June 2003, the party's Baghdad representative, Abdul al Anizi, said "we would like foreign forces not to stay in our country.... But now we have the freedom to express our opinions peacefully, so there is no need to use weapons" (Chicago Tribune 3 June 2003).
On 30 July 2003, the governing council of Iraq named Ibrahim Jaafari of the IDP party as its first president (AFP 30 July 2003). Jaafari was respected by Iraqis for his party's opposition Saddam Hussein's regime (Al Jazeera 31 July 2003), and led the rotating governing council in August 2003 (American Partisan 28 Aug. 2003). According to one source, this leader is "very moderate" (Associate Professor 1 Mar. 2004). The IDP also has a minister in the 24-seat cabinet that will govern the country until elections (BBC 1 Sept. 2003). Mohammed Jassem Khodayyir, currently the Minister of Immigration, is affiliated with the IDP and is also a long-standing member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) (ibid.). Party leaders have indicated that they would like elections to take place before the US elections in November 2004 (AFP 19 Feb. 2004).
Relationship between Sunnis and Shi'as in Iraq
In the year since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, tensions have been high between Sunni and Shi'a groups in Iraq (Washington Post 28 Sept. 2003; Newsweek 15 Dec. 2003). A violent rampage took place in mid-September 2003 as a group of Sunni Muslims destroyed an IDP headquarters near Basra (Washington Post 28 Sept. 2003). The rioters alleged that IDP members had killed five of their coreligionists in an attempt to provoke sectarian strife, but local Shi'as believed that Wahabbi Sunni Muslims were responsible for the murders (ibid.).
Ever since prominent Shi'a cleric Ayatollah Mohamad Baqir al Hakim was killed in a car-bomb explosion along with 89 bystanders outside the Shi'a Imam Ali Mosque in August 2003, the IDP has been on the trail of those responsible (Newsweek 15 Dec. 2003). On 19 December 2003, another explosion outside a Sunni mosque that killed three people was blamed by Sunnis on the IDP and the Badr Brigages (the military wing of the SCIRI) (HRWF 19 Dec. 2003). Many police, prosecutors, and locals believed that Moktada al-Sadr was behind the attack (New York Times 26 Aug. 2003). The Shi'as, on the other hand, again blamed Wahhabis for allegedly trying to instigate a religious war (HRWF 19 Dec. 2003).
Fatwas
No information on whether a fatwa was issued by the IDP stating that a person who kills a journalist would go to paradise could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, both professors contacted for this Response characterized the allegation that the IDP would have issued a fatwa against journalists in Iraq in the last year as "highly unlikely" (Professor 27 Feb. 2004; Associate Professor 1 Mar. 2004). According to one professor, the reason for this is that the IDP is in the process of building itself into a viable political presence under the US-led coalition government (Professor 27 Feb. 2004) and such a fatwa would jeopardize the party's ambitions (Associate Professor 1 Mar. 2004). Furthermore, no evidence shows that this has been a course of action ever undertaken by the IDP in its 50-year history, and in general Shi'a doctrine opposes violence except in a case necessitating "immediate self-defence" (ibid.). While the professor from the University of South Carolina stated that she could not guarantee that a fatwa had not been issued, she said in the past "many Iraqi clerics even opposed Khomeini's fatwa against Salmon Rushdie" (ibid.). The professor also stated that Dawa is a popular name for Islamic groups and although it would be possible for a Sunni Dawa group to issue such a fatwa, she had no knowledge of such a group's existence (ibid.). Additional information on the issuance of a fatwa against journalists could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
The Age [Melbourne]. 30 June 2003. Nicholas Kristof. "How we Helped Liberate Iraqi Fundamentalism." <http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0514/p01s02-woiq.html> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
Agence France Presse (AFP). 19 February 2004. "Anan Discounts June Election in Iraq, Three Killed in Bomb Blast." <http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/0/0f45e04e04453ad985256e3f0069e53d?OpenDocument> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
_____. 30 July 2003. Ned Parker. "Iraq Welcomes Back Refugees and Greets First Governing Council President." (NEXIS)
Al-Ahram [Cairo]. 10-16 April 2003. No. 633. Omayma Abdel-Latif. "Whose Iraq?" <h ttp://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/633/sc9.htm> [Accessed 4 Mar. 2004]
Al-Jazeera. 31 July 2003. "Bremer Predicts 2004 Iraq Elections." <http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4EF01EE0-6532-4DCB-B770-7944D06F797B.htm> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
The American Partisan . 28 August 2003. David T. Pyne. "US Losing the War on Terror in Iraq - New Interim President of Iraq Hails From Shiite Terrorist Group." <http://www.american-partisan.com/cols/2003/pyne/qtr3/0828.htm>[Accessed 26 February 2004]
Associate Professor, Government and International Studies, University of South Carolina, Spartanburg. 1 March 2004. Correspondence.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). 24 April 2003. Mark Willacy. "Iraq's Underground Political Parties Emerge." <http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2003/s839059.htm> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
Baghdad Bulletin . 31 August 2003. Annasir Thabit. "Deeply Rooted." <http://www.baghdadbulletin.com/pageArticle.php?article_id=160&cat_id=1> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 1 September 2003. "Iraq's Post-War Cabinet." <http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3199561.stm> [Accessed 27 Feb. 2004]
The Chicago Tribune . 3 June 2003. Liz Sly. "In Fight for Iraqi Political Supremacy, Dawa Party may be Top Dog." <http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/6002678.htm> [Accessed 26 Jun. 2003]
The Christian Science Monitor [Boston]. 14 May 2003. Peter Ford. "Iraqi Holy Men Leap into Postwar Politics." <http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0514/p01s02-woiq.html> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
The Economist [London]. 4 December 2003. "Doomed, or Still Recoverable?" <http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2265973> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
_____. 5 August 2003. "Political Forces." <http://www.economist.com/countries/Iraq/profile.cfm?folder=Profile-Political%20Forces> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2003]
_____. 5 April 2003. "Unacceptable Behaviour." (NEXIS)
The Guardian [London]. 30 Aug. 2004. Lawrence Joffe. "Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim." <http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1032018,00.html> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) [Brussels]. 19 December 2003. Nicholas Blandford. "Iraq: Religious Strife Flares in Baghdad." (NEXIS)
_____. 12 May 2003. Matthew Gutman. "Iraq: Iraq's Assyrians Struggle for Power." (NEXIS)
The International Herald Tribune (IHT) [Neuilly-sur-Seine]. 26 January 2004. Edward Wong. "Reclusive Cleric's Clout is Increasing in Iraq." <h ttp://www.iht.com/articles/126526.html> [Accessed 1 Mar. 2004]
Iraqi News. 2003. "Islamic Dawa Party (IDP)." <http://www.iraqinews.com/party_islamic_daawa_party.shtml> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
The Irish Times [Dublin]. 16 April 2003. "War may be Nearly Over but the Pain Goes On." <http://www.ireland.com/focus/iraq/features/fea1604a.htm> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
Newsweek . 15 December 2003. Babak Dehghanpisheh. "The Shiite Hit List." <h ttp://msnbc.msn.com/id/3660189> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
The New York Times . 26 August 2003. Neil MacFarquhar. "After the War: Islam - Shiite Clerics Clashing Over How to Reshape Iraq." (NEXIS)
Political Handbook of the World: 2000-2002 . 2002. Edited by Arthur S. Banks, Thomas C. Muller and William R. Overstreet. Binghampton, NY: CSA Publications.
Professor, Department of History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 27 February 2004. Correspondence.
USA Today [Washington, DC]. 12 Feb. 2004. Barbara Slavin. "US Wary of Iranian Influence in Iraq." <http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-02-12-iran-iraq-usat_x.htm> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
The Washington Post . 28 September 2003. Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Anthony Shadid.
"Ethnic and Religious Fissures Deepen in Iraqi Society." <http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A14841-2003Sep28?language=printer> [Accessed 26 Feb. 2004]
Additional Sources Consulted
The Middle East magazine
Internet Sites, including: Amnesty International, Cairo Times, The Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom House, Gulf News, Human Rights Watch, International Freedom Exchange, Iraq Today, Middle East Times, Reporters Sans Frontières, Syria Times, US Department of State