Dori in Diala – intel. reports

DIALA / IraqiNews.com: An official intelligence source in Diala province said on Friday there was evidence that Ezzat Ibrahim al-Dori, the no. 2 man in the former Iraqi regime, is in north of Baaquba city. The reports were confirmed by the Diala police chief and a local official. “The intelligence available for the Iraqi security forces in Diala confirm that wanted Dori is in an area in al-Khalis district, (15 km) north of Baaquba,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told IraqiNews.com. He pointed out that the Iraqi security forces have intensified their presence in the area. Dori, who was born in 1942, used to be the vice chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council during the former regime’s time. He ranks 6th on a U.S. forces’ pack of cards of 55 most wanted persons after their invasion of Baghdad in April 2003, pledging a reward of $10 million for information leading to capturing Dori. Maj. General Abdelhussein al-Shimari, the Diala police chief, said security instructions have been received by the police in the province to verify the intelligence reports that indicated Dori is in al-Khalis. He said he gave orders to intensify security presence in the designated areas and set up checkpoints on the roads and streets there. Dori had been reportedly arrested more than once, the recent of which was in April 2008. The dissolved Baath Party had announced on November 11, 2005 that Dori has died, only to deny the reports shortly after. Dori, according to web sites speaking in the name of Baath, is now the current leader of the party that split into two wings after 2003: one of them is led by Dori and the other by Mohammed Younus al-Ahmed, a member of the so-called provincial leadership of the Baath Party of former President Saddam Hussein. Dori is on top of the Iraqi government’s July 2, 2006 list of most wanted persons, followed by Ahmed. Meanwhile, Saja Qaddouri, the chairperson of the Diala provincial council’s security committee, vouched for the intelligence reports. “There is evidence asserting the security information. Security forces during the past period have struck organizations that are considered extensions of the Baath Party like al-Awda (Return), al-Nawah (Nucleus) and al-Tahrir (Liberation),” she said. Qaddouri pointed out that the police, three months ago, had arrested the founder of Awda in Sneija area, al-Muqdadiya district, (45 km) northeast of Baaquba, and members from Nawah and Tahrir in separate operations as part of the security plan Bashaer al-Kheir . The Iraqi security forces have launched a large-scale security operation in Diala since July 2008 codenamed Bashaer al-Kheir (Promise of Good) with the aim of tracking down armed groups active in the province. So far the operation was not officially announced finished. “There are strong links between hard-line Islamist groups like al-Qaeda and members of the dissolved Baath party as several leaders of al-Qaeda were present in Diala after the fall of the regime, including the leader of the organization Abu Musaab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in an air raid in 2006, as well as the so-called ministers of the Islamic State of Iraq group, like finance minister Haqqi Ismail and agriculture minister Muthanna al-Dulaimi, both were arrested,” Qaddouri indicated. She said that there are areas still under the gunmen’s control, adding “suicide attacks, car bombings and improvised explosive device (IED) blasts are carried out by al-Qaeda through financial support from the Baath”. Baaquba, the capital city of Diala province, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad. AmR (I) 1