Akram al-Kaabi ( ar, أكرم الكعبي; born 17 July 1977) is the founder and secretary general of

Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba , war=Iraq War Iraqi Civil War Syrian Civil War , image=Hezbollah_al-Nujaba_Flag.jpg , caption= , spokesperson=Nasr al-Shammari , active=2013–present , ideology=Shia Islamism Vilayat-e Faqih Khomeinism Anti-West Anti-Zionism , allegiance= (IRGC ...

in Iraq. Nujaba emerged in 2013 as an offshoot of the Iraqi Shiite militia group Asaib Ahl al-Haq.

History

Kaabi started as a commander in the Mahdi Army after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. As a commander, Kaabi led attacks against Iraqi and U.S.-led Coalition forces with training and funding from Iran's

Quds Force The Quds Force ( fa, نیروی قدس, niru-ye qods, Jerusalem Force) is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. U.S. Army's Iraq War ...

. He is regarded as one of the main operatives of

IRGC The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC; fa, سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی, Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enghelāb-e Eslāmi, lit=Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution also Sepāh or Pasdaran for short) is a branch o ...

's Quds Force in Iraq. After forming

Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH; ar, عصائب أهل الحق Aṣaʾib ʾAhl al-Haqq, "League of the Righteous"), also known as the Khazali Network ( ar, شبكة الخزعلي), is a radical Iraqi Shi'a political party and paramilitary group active ...

in July 2006, Kaabi became the deputy leader. In an interview with

Long War Journal ''FDD's Long War Journal'' (LWJ) is an American news website, also described as a blog, which reports on the War on terror. The site is operated by Public Multimedia Incorporated (PMI), a non-profit media organization established in 2007. PMI i ...

, Kaabi stated he would overthrow the

Iraqi government The federal government of Iraq is defined under the current Constitution, approved in 2005, as an Islamic, democratic, federal parliamentary republic. The federal government is composed of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, as w ...

if ordered by Ali Khamenei.

Sanctions

On 16 September 2008, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Akram al-Kaabi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. On 5 March 2019, the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

designated Kaabi as a

Specially Designated Global Terrorist A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the US Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of US Executive Order ...

(SDGT) under

Executive Order 13224 Executive Order 13224 is an executive order issued by U.S. President George W. Bush on September 23, 2001, as a response to the attacks on September 11, 2001. It has been renewed every year since. History In general terms, the Order provides ...

Notes

External links

Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) Iraqi Shia clerics Iraqi Shia Muslims Terrorism in Iraq Living people 1977 births Anti-Americanism Anti-Zionism in Iraq People of the War in Iraq (2013–2017) Members of the Popular Mobilization Forces People of the Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) Individuals designated as terrorists by the United States government Axis of Resistance People sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act {{Iraq-bio-stub