Enemies of the state: Iraq publishes list of 60 most-wanted jihadists and Baathists

Enemies of the state: Iraq publishes list of 60 most-wanted jihadists and Baathists
Iraqi authorities have issued a most-wanted list featuring dozens of jihadists and Baath party members who have allegedly committed crimes ranging from murder to weapons trafficking
2 min read
04 February, 2018
The list featured pictures of wanted individuals along with a description of their crimes [Getty]

Iraqi security services on Sunday published a list of 60 names individuals wanted on suspicion of belonging to either the Islamic State group, Al-Qaeda or the Baath Party of late dictator Saddam Hussein.

The list includes the name of Saddam's daughter Raghad Hussein, who lives in Jordan, according to AFP.

It also features 28 suspected IS jihadists, 12 from Al-Qaeda and 20 Baathists, giving details of the roles they allegedly play in their organisations, crimes of which they are suspected and in most cases, photographs.

All are Iraqis apart from Maan Bashour, a Lebanese man accused of recruiting fellow citizens to fight in Iraq.

"It's an old story that dates back to the American invasion of Iraq when we were partisans of the Iraqi resistance," Bashour told AFP. "Yes, we carried out activities against the American occupation."

The name of elusive IS head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is absent from the list. Iraqi officials did not clarify a reason why.

"These are the terrorists most wanted by the judicial authorities and the security services," the official said. "This is the first time we publish these names which, until now were secret."

The IS fighters the document lists are accused of fighting in Iraq's second city Mosul and the surrounding province of Nineveh, as well as in the provinces of Kirkuk, Diyala and Anbar.

IS seized a third of Iraq's territory during a lightning advance in 2014, before being beaten back by security forces backed by a United States-led coalition. Iraqi President Haider al-Abadi announced in November the 'end of war against IS' in Iraq.

IS fighters on the list are accused of murders, bombings, attacks on security forces, and the financing and transport of weapons, according to AFP, who saw the list on Sunday.

The list includes senior members of the group, among them Fawaz Mohammad Mutlaq, a former officer in Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary organisation who later became a member of IS's military council.