Free Iraqi Army

Iraqi Sunni rebel group

Free Iraqi Army
الجيش العراقي الحر
The 1963-1991 flag of Iraq, used by the FIA.
Dates of operation	19 July 2012–1 August 2014
Motives	Establishment of a Sunni state in Iraq
Active regions	Iraq Al Anbar Governorate Nineveh Governorate
Size	2,500+^[1]
Allies	Naqshbandi Army^{[citation needed]} Al-Qaeda (Alleged, denied) SCJL^{[citation needed]} MCIR^{[citation needed]} Anbar Tribal Councils^{[citation needed]} Free Syrian Army
Opponents	Republic of Iraq Iraqi Armed Forces Popular Mobilization Forces Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Badr Brigades Kata'ib Hezbollah Iran IRGC^{[citation needed]} Syria^[2] Mukhtar Army Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (sometimes)^{[citation needed]} Special Groups
Battles and wars	Iraqi insurgency Operation al-Shabah
Website	https://www.facebook.com/freeiraqiarmypage

The Free Iraqi Army (Arabic: الجيش العراقي الحر, Al-Jayš Al-‘Irāqī Al-Ḥurr, FIA) was a Sunni rebel group formed in the western Sunni-majority provinces of Iraq from Iraqi supporters of the Free Syrian Army rebels fighting in the Syrian Civil War.^[3] The group aimed to overthrow the Shia-dominated government of Iraq,^[4] believing that they would gain support in this from Syria should the rebels be successful in overthrowing Bashar al-Assad.^[5]^[6] An Iraqi counterterror spokesman denied this, saying that the name is merely being used by al-Qaeda in Iraq to "attract the support of the Iraqi Sunnis by making use of the strife going on in Syria."^[7]

Aside from Anbar Province, the FIA reportedly had a presence in Fallujah, along the Syrian border near the town of Al-Qaim, and in Mosul in the north of Iraq. A recruiting commander for the group told a reporter from The Daily Star newspaper in Lebanon that the group was opposed to both Al-Qaeda in Iraq and their opponents in the Sahwa militia. The same commander claimed that the group received financial support from cross-border tribal extensions and Sunni sympathizers in the Persian gulf states of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.^[5]

On 4 February 2013, Wathiq al-Batat of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah in Iraq, announced the formation of the Mukhtar Army to fight against al-Qaeda and the Free Iraqi Army.^[8] In August 2014, the group became defunct, after a large offensive by ISIL in northern Iraq, with activity on their websites ceasing.

History

Links to al-Qaeda and the Iraqi Ba'athists

Despite the group's denial of links to al-Qaeda, the group had been accused of being affiliated with the group.^[9] These accusations of links with both al-Qaeda and the Ba'athists led to a Najaf Shiite figure associated with the State of Law Coalition issuing a fatwa against supplying the group with weapons.^[10]

External links

Free Iraqi Army on YouTube

References

^ "How Syria's civil war is spilling over". Al Jazeera English. Archived from the original on 2015-12-26. Retrieved 2014-08-19.
^ "Free Iraqi Army inspired by Syria war | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR". Archived from the original on 2018-10-14. Retrieved 2012-12-30.
^ "INSIGHT: Iraq's Tensions Heightened by Syria Conflict". Middle East Voices (VOA). 29 November 2012. Archived from the original on 3 December 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
^ "Syrian Soldiers Killed In Iraq: Reports". RTT News. 4 March 2013. Archived from the original on 5 February 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Free Iraqi Army inspired by Syria war". The Daily Star (Lebanon). 10 November 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2018. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
^ "Iraqis locked in rival sectarian narratives". BBC News. 21 November 2012. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
^ "Al-Qaida making comeback in Iraq, officials say". The Guardian. 9 October 2012. Archived from the original on 13 May 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
^ "Briefing: A guide to defusing sectarian tensions in Iraq". IRIN. 13 February 2013. Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
^ "Syrian War's Spillover Threatens a Fragile Iraq". The New York Times. 26 February 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
^ عضو في الدفاع النيابية: الجيش العراقي الحر إسم آخر لتنظيم القاعدة (in Arabic). Iraqi Communist Party. 20 December 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.

Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party

Iraqi-dominated faction
Syrian-dominated faction

History

Predecessors	Arab Ba'ath Arab Ba'ath Movement Arab Socialist Movement Syrian Committee to Help Iraq
Founders	Michel Aflaq Salah al-Din al-Bitar
Pre-split	1954 Syrian coup d'état 14 July Revolution 1959 Mosul uprising Ramadan Revolution 1963 Syrian coup d'état National Council for the Revolutionary Command Ar-Rashid revolt November 1963 Iraqi coup d'état 1964 Hama riot 1966 Syrian coup d'état
Post-split	17 July Revolution Ba'athist Iraq Revolutionary Command Council Members Arab Belt Corrective Movement Union of Arab Republics Ba'athist Arabization campaigns in northern Iraq 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge Faith Campaign Iraqi conflict De-Ba'athification Syrian civil war

Leadership

General Secretaries

Pre-split	Michel Aflaq Munif Razzaz
Iraqi-dominated faction	Michel Aflaq Saddam Hussein Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri Salah Al-Mukhtar*
Syrian-dominated faction	Nureddin al-Atassi Hafiz al-Assad Abdullah al-Ahmar (de facto) Bashar al-Assad*

Regional Secretaries

Iraq	Fuad al-Rikabi Talib El-Shibib Ali Salih al-Sa'di Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Saddam Hussein Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed*
Jordan	Abdullah Rimawi Munif Razzaz Akram al-Homsi*
Lebanon	Assem Qanso Abd al-Majid al-Rafei
Palestine	Isam al-Qadi Rakad Salem*
Syria	Hammud al-Shufi Shibli al-Aysami Amin al-Hafiz Nureddin al-Atassi Hafiz al-Assad Bashar al-Assad*

Members of the National Command

Members of the Regional Commands

Iraq	Humam Abd al-Khaliq Abd al-Ghafur Muhammad Zimam Abd Al-Razzaq Ghanim Abdul-Jalil Saad Abdul-Majid Jamal Mustafa Abdullah Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed Salah Omar al-Ali Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash Salih Mahdi Ammash Hussein Al-Awadi Tariq Aziz Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Adil Abdullah Mahdi Al-Douri Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri Saadoun Ghaidan Sa'dun Hammadi Qusay Hussein Saddam Hussein Latif Nassif Jassim Rashid Taan Kazim Adnan Khairallah Ali Hassan al-Majid Muhyi Abdul-Hussein Mashhadi Aziz Saleh Al-Numan Ghazi Hamoud Al-Obaidi Taha Yassin Ramadan Fawzi Mutlaq al-Rawi Fuad al-Rikabi Ali Salih al-Sa'di Abd al-Khaliq al-Samarra'i Abdullah Sallum al-Samarra'i Talib El-Shibib Nayef Shindakh Thamir Khamis Sirhan Hardan al-Tikriti Yahya Abdallah al-Ubaydi Tahir Yahya Mohammed Hamza Zubeidi
Syria	Abdullah al-Ahmar Hussein Arnous Bashar al-Assad Hafiz al-Assad Nureddin al-Atassi Shibli al-Aysami Mohammed Saeed Bekheitan Muhsen Bilal Mahdi Dakhlallah Ahmad Diyab Fahd Jassem al-Freij Marwan Habash Amin al-Hafiz Muhammad Ali al-Halabi Wael Nader al-Halqi Salim Hatum Hilal Hilal Mohammad al-Hussein Hisham Ikhtiyar Salah Jadid Abd al-Karim al-Jundi Sami al-Jundi Abdul Rauf al-Kasm Abdul Halim Khaddam Imad Khamis Ahmad al-Khatib Abdul Rahman Khleifawi Mohammad Jihad al-Laham Ibrahim Makhous Zuhair Masharqa Muhammad Mustafa Mero Muhammad Naji al-Otari Abd al-Qadir Qaddura Hammouda Sabbagh Farouk al-Sharaa Hikmat al-Shihabi Hammud al-Shufi Mustafa Tlass Hasan Turkmani Muhammad Umran Salim Yasin Yusuf Zuayyin
Yemen	Ali Ahmad Nasser al-Dhahab

Heads of state

Iraq	Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Saddam Hussein
Syria	Amin al-Hafiz Nureddin al-Atassi Ahmad al-Khatib Hafiz al-Assad Abdul Halim Khaddam (interim) Bashar al-Assad*

Heads of government

Iraq	Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Saddam Hussein Sa'dun Hammadi Mohammed Hamza Zubeidi Ahmad Husayn Khudayir as-Samarrai
Syria	Salah al-Din al-Bitar Amin al-Hafiz Yusuf Zuayyin Nureddin al-Atassi Hafiz al-Assad Abdul Rahman Khleifawi Mahmoud al-Ayyubi Muhammad Ali al-Halabi Abdul Rauf al-Kasm Mahmoud Al-Zoubi Muhammad Mustafa Mero Muhammad Naji al-Otari Adel Safar Riyad Farid Hijab Omar Ibrahim Ghalawanji Wael Nader al-Halqi Imad Khamis Hussein Arnous*

* = incumbent

Organization

Regional branches

Iraqi-dominated faction	Algeria Bahrain Egypt Iraq Regional Command Jordan Lebanon Libya Mauritania Palestine Sudan Tunisia Yemen
Syrian-dominated faction	Jordan Lebanon Mauritania Palestine South Yemen Sudan Syria Central Command History National Security Bureau Yemen

Newspapers

Popular fronts

National Progressive Front (Iraq)
National Progressive Front (Syria)

Wings

Paramilitary	Ba'ath Brigades Fedayeen Saddam National Defense Battalions Popular Army
Youth	Revolutionary Youth Union

Associated organizations

Armed groups

Al-Abud Network
Al-Awda
Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order
Free Iraqi Army
General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries
Jeish Muhammad
Rejectionists
Snake Party
Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation

Breakaway groups

Political alliances

Current	Alliance of Palestinian Forces Forces of Freedom and Change March 8 Alliance National Consensus Forces National Democratic Alliance Palestine Liberation Organization Palestinian National and Islamic Forces
Former	Ahd Bloc Front of Patriotic and National Parties Lebanese National Movement Lebanese National Resistance Front National Alliance for the Liberation of Syria National Union Front Palestinian National Alliance Palestinian National Salvation Front Rejectionist Front

Political parties

Arab Socialist Union Party
Arab Democratic Union Party
Democratic Socialist Unionist Party
Kurdistan Revolutionary Party
Libyan National Movement
National Covenant Party
Popular Unity Party
Sawab
Social Democratic Unionists
Socialist Democratic Unionist Party
Socialist Unionist Party
Syrian Communist Party
- Bakdash
- Unified
Syrian Social Nationalist Party
- in Lebanon

Other organizations

General Federation of Trade Unions
General Union of Peasants
General Union of Syrian Women

Miscellaneous

Ideology	Anti-imperialism Anti-Zionism Arab nationalism Arab socialism Ba'athism Pan-Arabism Progressivism Republicanism Secularism Vanguardism
Literature	The Battle for One Destiny On the Way of Resurrection
Symbolism	Arḍ ul-Furātayn Pan-Arab colors