Exile returned to sign death order of man who tried to kill him

UTV ^ | April 30, 2009

[nuconvert]

Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki had to flee from Iraq in 1979 to escape Saddam's henchmen

Thursday, 30 April 2009

Nouri al-Maliki fled Iraq in 1979 to escape Saddam's henchmen, who he believed had orders to execute him. For the next 24 years, Maliki remained an exiled dissident, travelling between Jordan, Syria, Iran and Damascus - all the time raising political opposition to the immovable dictator he despised.

Maliki was an establishment child in pre-Saddam Iraq. His grandfather was a poet and Shia Islamic cleric as well as education minister for a short time under the nation's last deposed monarch. He grew up in the Shia heartland between the holy city of Kerbala and Hila in the centre of the country.

He took a masters in Arabic literature from Baghdad University and joined the Islamic Dawa party in the 1960s. Dawa was a centrepiece of his life in exile and has remained at the heart of his power base since his return.

After fleeing Saddam, Maliki settled first in Amman and then Syria, where he formed the Dawa party newspaper, al-Mawqif. In 1982, he moved to Iran, where he stayed throughout the remainder of the Iran-Iraq war and two years beyond. In 1990, he returned to Damascus, where he stayed until the fall of Baghdad in April 2003.

[Mercat]

On a recent visit to Boston we ate every morning at the same little Au Bon Pain. The earlier we were there the more middle aged men in tuxedos showed up. They were speaking a language we didn’t understand and we have experience with most if not all European languages yet, the language and the men appeared to be European. Very puzzling. We checked with the hotel - they were Grand Masters of Iran (in exile). Freemasons booted out of Iran in 1978. Turns out Boston is a big center for them.

[Brilliant]

Some might call that a conflict of interest. I guess everyone in Iraq has a conflict of interest though.

[nuconvert]

Interesting. Thanks.