Nouri al-Maliki is gathering various Iraqi resistance figures who fought both Saddam and the coalition, but this marginal old timer party is not the same as Kataib Hezbollah, which has yet to show its hand in parliamentary politics.
On April 30, 2021, former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law list announced that it will participate in Iraq s planned October general election as a coalition of eight parties. Two of these parties include the term Hezbollah in their names: Kawader Hezbollah al-Qudama (Old-Timer Hezbollah Cadres, or KHQ), and Hezbollah al-Iraq (Iraqi Party of God, or HI). Though widely assumed to represent the top Iran-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah (KH), these parties actually comprise
Kawader Hezbollah al-Qudama, a new electoral partner to former premier Nouri al-Maliki, is not the same as Kataib Hezbollah. It contains members of the older Islamic Resistance cells that fought Saddam and then the U.S.-led coalition after 2003. Maliki is gathering marginal resistance figures to him and Kataib Hezbollah has still not openly shown its hand in parliamentary politics.
On April 30, 2021, former premier Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law list announced that it will participate in the planned October 2021 general elections in Iraq within a pre-electoral coalition of eight parties. Of these parties two include the term Hezbollah in their names; Kawader Hezbollah al-Qudama (the Old-timer Hezbollah Cadres) (KHQ) (Figure 1) and Hezbollah al-Iraq (the Iraqi Hezbollah). Though widely assumed to be Kataib Hezbollah (KH), these groups actually contain anti-Saddam and anti-U.S. resistance (muqawama) elements that have been operational even before the formation of KH. Partnering wi