Hamas of Iraq - Political Program

Political Program

Hamas Iraq broke off from the 1920 Revolution Brigade on March 18, 2007.

Hamas Iraq released a political program in April 2007 with some of the following provisions:

• "The movement believes in armed jihad as a means for expelling the occupier, and calls on public opinion and agencies and international institutions to respect this right... of all peoples to resist occupation, and to distinguish between that and armed crimes which target innocent civilians."
• "We believe in a necessary link between military efforts and political action as two mutually supportive instruments for achieving the goals of resistance for liberation and salvation and preventing the fundamentalist movements from harvesting the fruits of the resistance."
• "We confirm the necessity of continuing the killing until the exit of the last soldier from the occupying armies, and to not negotiate with the enemy except with an agreement of the factions of the jihad and the Iraqi resistance; and under the appropriate circumstances and conditions."

In July 2007, The Guardian reported that the group participated with other insurgent groups in an alliance called the Political Council for the Iraqi Resistance, which includes a range of Islamist and nationalist-leaning groups which was formed to negotiate with the Americans in anticipation of an early US withdrawal. Main planks of the joint political program included a commitment to free Iraq from foreign troops, rejection of cooperation with parties involved in political institutions set up under the occupation and a declaration that decisions and agreements made by the US occupation and Iraqi government are null and void."