On the Anniversary of the Assassination of the Iraqi Head of State
Why is the Martyr Izz al‑Din Salim Forgotten?
Written by: Salam Adel
The anniversary of the martyrdom of Izz al‑Din Salim (Abu Yassin) passes – the man who was assassinated on the morning of 17 May 2004 at the gates of the Green Zone while carrying out his duties as President of the Interim Governing Council, that is, as the head of the Iraqi state at the time.
What is painful is that Iraq talks a great deal about the victims of that period, but rarely stops to consider the assassination of the head of state itself – as if the event has been quietly pushed into the corner of oblivion.
The day before his martyrdom, Abu Yassin was speaking in a private gathering among his friends about his feeling that martyrdom was near – as if the man was sensing something moving in the shadows, especially since he was among the strongest national voices inside the Governing Council and one of the most vociferous opponents of Paul Bremer's method of managing Iraq after the occupation.
Izz al‑Din Salim was not merely an opponent of the former regime; he was also one of the few who had the courage to object to the American guardianship in the midst of a confused and fearful Iraqi moment. That is why his presence remains different even after his departure.
Izz al‑Din Salim – the pseudonym of Abdul Zahra Uthman Mohammed – was born in Basra on 23 March 1943. He was an Iraqi politician, author, educator, Islamic theorist, and one of the prominent members of the Islamic Da‘wa Movement between 1980 and 2004.
The question remains, after all these years: how is a man who was the head of state forgotten?
And how does the remembrance of figures like Izz al‑Din Salim disappear – along with the Governing Council member, the martyred scholar Dr. Alawiya Aqeela al‑Hashimi, who was assassinated by the Baathists near her home in the Al‑Jihad neighbourhood? Both were among the first figures who paid with their lives for the attempt to found a new Iraq.
For this reason, I believe that in Iraq, figures are not absent because of their weakness, but sometimes because of the strength of their symbolism, the purity of their biography, and the loftiness of their national voice. That is what I can say briefly on this painful anniversary – painful for me personally.
I have other memories of Abu Yassin, when I accompanied him during opposition meetings in Salah al‑Din as part of the Coordination and Follow‑up Committee after the London Conference. I was a witness to his voice and his objections in the face of Zalmay Khalilzad – at a time when the voices of many of those present fell silent, people who today carry the titles of leadership and command.
I wish my annual remembrance of him were enough to heal the pain of parting and the loss of you, O Abu Yassin.
May God have mercy on the martyr Izz al‑Din Salim,
And may God have mercy on all those who tried to build a homeland, before chaos, occupation, terrorism, and corruption swallowed them up.
عزالدين سلِم