Harith al-Dhari

Sheik Harith Sulayman al-Dhari or Harith ibn Sulayman ibn Dhari al-Zoba'i al-shamri (Arabic:حارث الضاري) was born in 1941 in Anbar in Al Zaidan district. He is a Sunni Arab cleric, and chairman of the Association of Muslim Scholars, he is also leader of Zoba' tribe. Dhari is an outspoken critic of the American invasion of Iraq and has praised the iraqi Resistance. His father and grandfather killed Colonel Gerard Leachman and played a part in the 1920 revolution against British imperial rule. That uprising, which was fiercest in the Shi'ite south, was a seminal moment of unity between Iraq's Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds and forced the British to allow a form of self-rule.

Education

Harith al-Dhari was educated at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. He later worked in the Islamic Law Department of Baghdad University. [http://english.aljazeera.net/news/archive/archive?ArchiveId=1572 Profile of al-Dhari by al-Jazeera]

Role in Iraqi politics

He has been an outspoken critic of the foreign military presence in Iraq and has said he approves of the armed resistance in the absence of a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops. This stance has won him support among Sunni Arabs and respect among the rebels.

On November 16, 2006, the Interior Minister of Iraq Jawad al-Bolani, an Iraqi Shi'a, announced that an arrest warrant had been issued from the state's judicial system and Dhari, who now lives between Cairo and Amman, was wanted on charges of inciting violence. "The government's policy is that anyone who tries to spread division and strife among the Iraq people will be chased by our security agencies,". [ [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061116/sunni_leader_061116/20061116?hub=World Arrest of Sunni leader sought in Iraq] ] [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/17/world/middleeast/17iraq.html?ref=world Iraq Issues Arrest Warrant for a Prominent Sunni Cleric] ] [ [http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraqgovt17nov17,0,1025932.story?coll=la-home-headlines Iraq's Shiite-led regime seeks to arrest top Sunni cleric] ] In his speech on July 2, 2006,Osama Bin Laden praised Mr Al-Dhari. [http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP128606]

In May 2007, Harith al-Dhari (a man sometimes known as the "spiritual leader of the insurgency") did an interview with Time magazine, taking a stand in opposition to Al-Qaeda in Iraq, but also in opposition to the US occupation and the Maliki government. [http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1620607,00.html]

In July 2007, Harith al-Dhari did an interview with Al Jazeera Live channel, Announced that Al-Qaeda in Iraq killed 50 Member from his family.

References