Secretary-General Hassan Al-Sari | Founded May 2008 Newspaper Al-Bayyna | |
The Hezbollah Movement in Iraq (Arabic: حركة حزب الله في العراق) is a Shi'a Islamist, Iraqi political party that is part of the United Iraqi Alliance coalition. It is not affiliated with the Lebanese group Hezbollah or other groups using the name. Hezbollah, or more literally Hizb Allah (حزب الله), means "Party of God" in Arabic.
The party publishes the Al-Bayyna newspaper and is led by Hassan Al-Sari. Hezbollah originated as an underground anti-Saddam network. Unlike other anti-Saddam groups it remained based in Iraq, not setting up shop in Iran or the west. The party is closely aligned to the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, previously known as the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Post-Invasion
Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Hezbollah Movement seized buildings formerly used by the Iraqi General Intelligence Service in the al-Alwiya neighbourhood of Baghdad. On 16 August 2004 INIS & Major Crimes Directorate personnel raided the building, with support from either Iraqi National Guard or US Forces. Present Hezbollah staff and officials, including Secretary-General Hassan Al-Sari , where arrested and detained for periods ranging from 10 days to 2 months. During this time they were interrogated over the groups links to Iran.