Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri

Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri (Born July 1, 1942) was a military commander under the Iraq Saddam Hussein regime until 2003, and was vice-president and deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council.

His family hails from the region around Tikrit, where his father worked as an ice seller. Al-Douri is one of the three surviving plotters, along with former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Taha Yassin Ramadan, who brought the Ba'ath Party to power in a coup in 1968.

Following the coup, he continued to retain a prominent position in the Ba'ath regime. He played a key role in the chemical shelling of rebellious Kurdish villagers near the city of Halabjah in 1988 that resulted in the deaths of 5,000 civilians. In Austria he has been implicated in war crimes. Following the Gulf War, he was frequently sent abroad to represent Iraqi interests. His daughter was briefly married to Uday Hussein al-Tikriti, a son of President Saddam Hussein. In 1998, he survived an assasination attempt against him in Karbala.

On March 20, 2003, U.S forces invaded Iraq, leading to the toppling of the regime of President Saddam Hussein on April 9. Following the fall of Baghdad, al-Douri went into hiding and has been charged by U.S officials to be involved in directing the subsequent Iraqi insurgency against U.S forces. He is believed to be directing and funding guerilla attacks as well as brokering an alliance between Ba'athist insurgents and militant Islamists. Other reports, however, suggest that he is suffering from leukimia and is directing all his energy to avoiding capture.

He is the King of Clubs in the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. Follwoing the capture of Saddam Hussein he is now the most wanted man in Iraq. His daughter was briefly married to Saddam Hussein's son Uday Hussein.

He was widly considered to be the right hand man of Saddam Hussein.

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