Mithal Jamal Al-Alusi
Senior Visiting Fellow
Mithal Jamal Al-Alusi is an Iraqi civil society leader, political party founder, and former member of the Iraqi parliament. From 1976 to 2003, he was a leading member of the Iraqi opposition to the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. In 1976, he escaped an execution order issued personally by Saddam and lived in Germany for 27 years. During his decades in the Iraqi opposition, he was arrested multiple times in Syria, Turkey, and Germany for opposing Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Following the expulsion of the Baathist regime in 2003, Mithal returned to Iraq to help rebuild the country, and he served as Director General of Education and Culture in the National De-Ba’thification Commission. He was expelled from the commission and from the Iraqi National Congress in September, 2004, after he participated in a conference on counter-terrorism at the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, Israel.
In October 2004, Mr. Alusi founded the Iraqi Nation Party, a liberal, secular party dedicated to promoting peace and democratic reforms in the Middle East. The Iraqi Nation Party also sought to build strategic relations and counterterrorism cooperation among Iraq, the United States, and the international community, including Israel.
On February 8, 2005, he survived an assassination attempt against his life, but his two sons (Ayman, 30, a father of 3 children, and Jamal, 22) and a bodyguard were killed in that attempt.
Mr. Alusi has participated in numerous international and local conferences on counter-terrorism and security. He has also published articles on the war against terrorism and the influence of the neighboring countries on Iraqi politics, such as Iran, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. In recent years, Mr. Alusi has been a vocal critic of the US and European nuclear agreement with the Iranian regime.
Mr. Alusi is a former visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He received his education as a Flight Engineer in Baghdad, and received his diploma in Counterterrorism studies in Germany.
Following the expulsion of the Baathist regime in 2003, Mithal returned to Iraq to help rebuild the country, and he served as Director General of Education and Culture in the National De-Ba’thification Commission. He was expelled from the commission and from the Iraqi National Congress in September, 2004, after he participated in a conference on counter-terrorism at the International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, Israel.
In October 2004, Mr. Alusi founded the Iraqi Nation Party, a liberal, secular party dedicated to promoting peace and democratic reforms in the Middle East. The Iraqi Nation Party also sought to build strategic relations and counterterrorism cooperation among Iraq, the United States, and the international community, including Israel.
On February 8, 2005, he survived an assassination attempt against his life, but his two sons (Ayman, 30, a father of 3 children, and Jamal, 22) and a bodyguard were killed in that attempt.
Mr. Alusi has participated in numerous international and local conferences on counter-terrorism and security. He has also published articles on the war against terrorism and the influence of the neighboring countries on Iraqi politics, such as Iran, Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. In recent years, Mr. Alusi has been a vocal critic of the US and European nuclear agreement with the Iranian regime.
Mr. Alusi is a former visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He received his education as a Flight Engineer in Baghdad, and received his diploma in Counterterrorism studies in Germany.