Iraq: civil resistance leader killed by US forces

CounterVortex

From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC), July 6:

Statement of Iraq Freedom Congress on the Assassination of Abdelhussein Saddam
The terrorist US forces kidnapped Abdelhussein Saddam, head of the Safety Force of the Iraq Freedom Congress after opening fire at him and his daughter on the 4th of July in Alattiba neighborhood in Baghdad. Two days after the abduction, his body was found in the Forensic Center in Yarmouk Hospital. The US force that committed this criminal act was a special task force who used special vehicles with the assistance of the Iraqi National Guards.

Abdelhussein Saddam was born in 1957 in Basra city from a progressive family. He was arrested in 1997 and spent two years in the Intelligence centre for his intense criticism of Saddam’s regime. In November 2006, he joined the ranks of IFC and in April 2007, and became the head of its Safety Force later. In June of that same year, he was elected as an assistant member of the Central Council of the Iraq Freedom Congress.

He was well-known for his courage and bravery. He was a popular figure and has a distinct social influence in many areas of Basra and Baghdad. He was well-known as a leader of the Safety Force in many areas in Baghdad where together with the safety force members [he] performed field exercises and maneuvers. He was well-known for his bravery in defying the sectarian gangs that meddle with the people’s safety and security. Throughout the period of his leadership of the Safety Force, there had been no killing based on identity in the area where he lived [or] in other areas with the presence of the Safety Force.

He was able to transform the Alaiwadeh neighborhood to lead by example in safety and security. He also [joined] with many Safety Force personnel and members of the Iraq Freedom Congress [to] publish and distribut the slogan “No Sunni, No Shiite…Ours is a Human Identity” that angered the occupation and sectarian gangs. The criminal US forces once again prove with another example to their criminal records that do not differ from other terrorist gangs. They did not come to Iraq except to steal the wealth of society.

This is the democracy that these criminal forces have brought that turned Iraq into a jungle ruled by…the laws of sectarian gangs. It will not allow any force to raise the banner of humanity and therefore they tried to harm the Iraq Freedom Congress by raiding its headquarters, arresting its members and assassinating one of its leaders, when [they were] not able to break the resolve and determination of IFC.

The Iraq Freedom Congress will respond appropriately to the criminal act carried out by the terrorist US forces as we noted in the abduction statement on Abdelhussein Saddam.

The assassination of Abdel Saddam Hussein by US forces mafia will not discourage the determination of the Iraq Freedom Congress and will be a new impetus to continue the struggle to rid the Iraqi society from all types of terrorists. They murdered Abdelhussein, but his spirit, ambitious aspirations, and bravery for building Iraq that is secular, humanitarian, and free from occupation and sectarian gangs, will be firmly in the hearts of freedom lovers.

Long live Abdelhussein Saddam

Down with the occupation and its allies

Long Live Iraq Freedom Congress

Iraq Freedom Congress

July 6, 2007

Amjad Al-Jawhary

See our last posts on Iraq’s civil resistance.

  1. Japanese statement on assassination of IFC leader
    From Zenko, July 6:

    Dear Samir Adil, president of IFC,

    I am very shocked to learn that Mr Abd-alhussien Sadam, the head of Safety Force of IFC (Ireaq Freedom Congress) was attacked and assassinated by US forces.

    I strongly condemn this heinous crime.

    I offer my deepest condolence to the family of Mr Abd-alhussien Sadam and IFC.

    And I express my strongest solidarity with IFC and Sana TV in their works to end the occupation of Iraq and to build a democratic, secular and progressive society of Iraq.

    MORI, Fumihiro
    Co-chairperson of the Committee for Solidarity with Iraqi Civil Resistance,
    Japan

    Emergent Statement of Condemnation against the Assassination of the Head of IFC Security Force:

    We strongly condemn the assassination of Mr.Abd al-Hussien, Head of IFC Security Force, by US Special Unit escorted by Iraqi National Guards.

    At 3 am on July 4th, US Special Forces and Iraqi National Guards attacked the house of the head of IFC Safety Force, Mr.Abd-alhussien Sadam, and caused severe injuries to him and his daughter. Abd-alhussien was kidnapped and assassinated, while his daughter was abandoned, bleeding profusely.

    Prior to this assault, the head quarters of IFC was attacked by US forces and Iraqi police, and five security members were arrested, and beaten and intimidated by the Iraqi police inside US military base.

    We strongly condemn this unforgivable, savagery.

    IFC is an international organization that is struggling for the construction of secular and democratic Iraqi society by means of non-armed struggles. It demands withdrawal of all the occupation forces, and at the same time, demands the end of politics of violence and fear imposed by Political Islam.
    There is not a single speck of justice in the series of assault by US forces.

    This assault came just after the official opening of IFC satellite TV ‘Sana’. The opening of Sana TV is an achievement brought about by international solidarity among peoples of the world, and it has begun to make reports, to the international community, of the savageries by occupation forces and Political Islam. The images of IFC Security Force to protect the life and safety of citizens encouraged the Iraqi people to a great extant. Also shown in the Sana TV are the demonstrations against the proposed Oil Law which the US government together with the puppet al-Malilki regime in collusion with global capitalists try to get enacted. Iraqi people as well as the people in the international community can also see through this TV what IFC is doing to protect the rights of women and children.

    Thus, the emergence of IFC and its satellite TV Sana poses
    a great threat to the US government and its puppet al-Maliki regime in continuing occupation. The series of assaults were to suppress the struggles of IFC by violence.

    However, people of the world will never allow these crimes. People of the world demand from you the immediate withdrawal of the occupation forces.

    We, in solidarity with IFC, strongly require Presidents of Iraq and the USA;

    1. to officially apologize to the bereaved family of Mr.Abd al-Hussien, and compensete for his murder and injury of his daughter
    2. to vow never to repeat such criminal acts.
    3. to immediately stop the ongoing counterinsurgency forces from Iraq now.

    YAMAKAWA Yoshiyasu
    President of ZENKO
    (National Assembly for Peace and Democracy)

  2. Kathlyn Stone on slaying of Abdelhussein Saddam
    From the IFC, July 8:

    The day before Abdel-Hussein’s abduction, the IFC-sponsored SANA TV gave its inaugural broadcast over a satellite network. The program ran a story about the recent mass demonstration against the proposed oil law being pushed by the Bush administration. The program included an overview of the IFC’s Safety Force and interviewed some of the five IFC members who had been arrested by U.S. and Iragi national guards June 7. Those arrested, Mohamed Karim, Ali Hussein, Mohamed Mahmoud, Hussam Salim and Abdul Amir Saleh, were interrogated at the U.S. base in Baghdad’s Rustumiyyah neighborhood and then transferred to the local police station before being released 11 days later.

    An IFC spokesman said the Iraqi police intentionally misled US forces, stating that the IFC was part of the sectarian Al-Mahdi Army that was planning to expand into the Al-Askary neighborhood, and therefore a terrorist organization. In fact, the IFC Safety Force had already confronted the scouts of Al-Mahdi and prevented them from establishing a foothold.

    The IFC won the detainees’ release by waging a political campaign both locally and globally, as well as a judicial battle. It filed a lawsuit against the U.S. agents for raiding the office without judicial authorization or an arrest warrant.

    SANA is funded by IFC allies around the world, but primarily by Japanese supporters. Besides its 22 chapters in Iraq, there are five chapters in Japan and south Asia, five in Europe and Scandinavia, and two in North America (one in Canada and one in the United States). IFC has ongoing collaboration with the 0 million member US Labor Against the War, and the IFC-US chapter carried the IFC banner during the January 27 protest in Washington D.C. SANA intends on using its solidarity network “to amplify the voice of freedom, peace and the equal rights of all people in Iraq and the Middle East,” said Nadia Mahmood Al-Sanna, a SANA producer.

    The IFC Safety Force recently graduated its third group of volunteers who are trained in mediation and self defense. Besides protecting citizens from marauding sectarian gangs, the Safety Force provides escorts to people who are in danger, and has a proactive outreach program calling for an end to sectarianism. The IFC tries to influence citizens against falling for the trap of retaliation. The so-called “insurgents” have also organized recreational play days for children, economic survival conferences for women, teams of doctors who go to the homes of people too ill or too afraid to travel to the hospital, raised money for food and medicine, and attended funerals to shield mourners from further violence. A primary goal of each project is to bring together Shiites and Sunnis in a spirit of cooperation and non-violence.

    IFC Executive Committee Member Amjad Al-Jawhary (Abdel-Hussein also served on the committee), said the U.S. administration is targeting efforts such as IFC that “aim to restore security, safety, freedom, and prosperity. They [US] well know that such forces will jeopardize the presence of the occupation and threatens to undermine its determination and prestige.” The IFC is trying to provide some semblance of public safety without government resources or sanction during a humanitarian crisis. Neither the trillion-dollar U.S. military led by the dazed and confused Bush administration, nor the dysfunctional police and army under Bush’s puppet leader Al-Maliki have provided any measurable safety for Iraqis. If anything, civilian killings are growing by the day.