Opposition To Saddam
Ayatollah Almodarresi’s advocacy of political freedom and strong stance against Terrorism started from an early age when Saddam Hussein came to power. Seventeen members of his wife’s family have been executed by Saddam's regime or simply disappeared in the notorious Ba'th penitentiaries. The first book openly attacking the Iraqi regime ever to be published by a religious scholar was written by Ayatollah Almodarresi. Published under a pseudonym in Beirut, the book was titled "No To Rulers of Iraq" and sparked a massive political crisis in Baghdad and caused the Baathist regime to issue an ultimatum for the removal of all Lebanese nationals from Iraq within 72 hours.
Almodarresi eluded execution by moving from house to house, often living in cellars for months and traveling in disguise. His uncle Ayatollah Sayed Hassan Al Shirazi was gunned down by Iraqi government assassins in Beirut for his role as a key opposition figure to Saddam's regime.
With the escalation of the Ba’athist repression, Hadi fled Iraq and found sanctuary in Bahrain, which is where he rose to international prominence.
As a founding member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and senior director of the Islamic Action Organization, Almodarresi was one of the most active figures of the Iraqi opposition in exile. While continuing his religious activities and adding over 250 published books to his CV, Hadi was closely involved in efforts to expose & bring down the regime in Baghdad. He was also able to escape a number of assassination attempts abroad including one in Brazil in 1991 as well as two more attempts against his life in Syria by Ba'athistTemplate:Clarification needed The Iraqi ones, not the Syrian ones? intelligence operatives in 2001.
Read more about this topic: Hadi Al-Modarresi
Famous quotes containing the words opposition to, opposition and/or saddam:
“Slavery is founded in the selfishness of man’s nature—opposition to it, is [in?] his love of justice.... Repeal the Missouri compromise—repeal all compromises—repeal the declaration of independence—repeal all past history, you still can not repeal human nature. It still will be the abundance of man’s heart, that slavery extension is wrong; and out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth will continue to speak.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“When feminism does not explicitly oppose racism, and when antiracism does not incorporate opposition to patriarchy, race and gender politics often end up being antagonistic to each other and both interests lose.”
—Kimberly Crenshaw (b. 1959)
“There’s no telling what might have happened to our defense budget if Saddam Hussein hadn’t invaded Kuwait that August and set everyone gearing up for World War II½. Can we count on Saddam Hussein to come along every year and resolve our defense-policy debates? Given the history of the Middle East, it’s possible.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)