Syrian, Iraqi Baathists May Unite

The All4Syria website reported on July 1 that serious attempts are being made to unite the Syrian and Iraqi Baath parties.



All4Syria belongs to Ayman Abdel Nour, a Syrian Baathist who advocates for reform of his party.



The site cited warnings from analysts that unifying the two parties could boost the insurgency in Iraq. The Baath party, the political vehicle of the late Saddam Hussein, is now banned in Iraq. Since January 2007 it has been led by Izzat al-Duri, who was deputy leader of the Revolutionary Command Council, the top governing body in Saddam’s time.



Citing unnamed sources, All4Syria reported that an Iraqi Baath delegation was to visit Damascus to meet the Syrian party leadership. If the talks prove successful, the parties will hold conferences in Iraq and Syria to establish a unified leadership.



A unified party would also include Muhammed Younis al-Ahmed al-Moali, who leads a rival faction of the Iraqi Baath party and is close to Syria, the website reported.



Both Duri and Moali are on the US military’s most-wanted list, with the former commanding a ten million US dollar bounty, and the latter one million.