Walid Hassan (born c. 1959 - d. 20 November 2006) was a Shia Muslim Iraqi comedian. At the time of his death he was one of five actors on Caricature, a 45-minute comedy satire on Al-Sharqiyah TV, that did not hesitate to make fun of U.S. forces, Shiite militias, Sunni-Arab insurgent groups, and the chaotic governments that have tried to rule Iraq since Saddam Hussein was overthrown in the 2003 invasion.
The popular actor's TV show provided hard-pressed Iraqis with comic relief by poking fun at everything from politicians to long lines at fuel stations.
He was shot to death while driving through Baghdad on 20 November 2006. As with many other killings in Baghdad, the identity of the gunmen who shot Hassan was not known, police said.
He was buried on 21 November 2006 after his coffin was tied to the top of a taxi for the 160 km (99 mi) journey from Baghdad to the Shia holy city of Najaf.
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Ali Hassan Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, nicknamed Chemical Ali, was an Iraqi politician and military commander under Saddam Hussein who served as defence minister, interior minister, and chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. He was also the governor of Kuwait during much of the 1990–91 Gulf War.
The following is a timeline of major events during the Iraq War, following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani, commonly known as Ayatollah Sistani, is an Iranian–Iraqi Twelver Shia spiritual leader and marja'. He has been described as the spiritual leader of Shia Muslims worldwide, and one of the most senior scholars in Shia Islam. He has been included in all editions of "The Muslim 500: The World's Most Influential Muslims" mostly in the top ten positions since 2009.
Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, which may be abbreviated as JTJ or Jama'at, was a Islamic extremist Salafi jihadist terrorist group. It was founded in Jordan in 1999 and was led by Jordanian national Abu Musab al-Zarqawi for the entirety of its existence. During the Iraqi insurgency (2003–11), the group became a decentralized network with foreign fighters and a considerable Iraqi membership.
Margaret Hassan, also known as "Madam Margaret", was an Irish-born aid worker who had worked in Iraq for many years until she was abducted and murdered by unidentified kidnappers in Iraq in 2004, at the age of 59. Her remains have never been recovered.
Events in the year 2005 in Iraq.
The Imam Husayn Shrine is the mosque and burial site of Husayn ibn Ali, the third Imam of Shia Islam, in the city of Karbala, Iraq. It stands on the site of the Mausoleum of Husayn, who was a grandson of Muhammad, near the place where he embraced martyrdom during the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE The tomb of Husayn is one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, outside of Mecca and Medina, and many make pilgrimages to the site. Every year, millions of pilgrims visit the city to observe Ashura, which marks the commemoration of Husayn's death for all muslims.
Al-Askari Shrine, the 'Askariyya Shrine or the Al-Askari Mosque is a Shia Muslim mosque and mausoleum in the Iraqi city of Samarra 125 km (78 mi) from Baghdad. It is one of the most important Shia shrines in the world. It was built in 944. The dome was destroyed in a bombing by extremists in February 2006 and its two remaining minarets were destroyed in another bombing in June 2007, causing widespread anger among Shias. The remaining clock tower was also destroyed in July 2007. The dome and minarets were repaired and the mosque reopened in April 2009.
The 2006 al-Askari Shrine bombing occurred on 22 February 2006 at approximately 6:44 a.m. local Iraqi time, and targeted the al-Askari Shrine in the city of Samarra, Iraq. The attack on the mosque, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, has not been claimed by any group; the then President of the United States, George W. Bush, suggested from "evidence" that the bombing was an al-Qaeda plot. Although the mosque was severely damaged from the blast, there were no casualties.
The following lists events that happened during 2006 in Iraq.
Events in the year 2007 in Iraq.
The Dujail massacre was a mass killing of Shia rebels by the Ba'athist Iraqi government on 8 July 1982 in Dujail, Iraq. The massacre was committed in retaliation to an earlier assassination attempt by the Shia Iranian supported Islamic Dawa Party against the then President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. The town of Dujail had a large Shia population, with 75,000 residents at the time of the incident, and was a well-known stronghold of the Dawa Party. It is located approximately 53 km (33 mi) from the capital of Baghdad, in the Sunni-majority Saladin Governorate of Iraq.
Events in the year 2010 in Iraq.
Riad al-Saray was an Iraqi journalist, television presenter, lawyer and politician. He worked for the national TV channel Al Iraqiya from 2005 until his death. He was killed in a drive-by shooting carried out by a group of unknown gunmen. His murder was condemned by Reporters Without Borders and the British embassy in Baghdad, among others.
The 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq or Second Sadr Uprising refers to a short period of unrest in Iraq in early 1999 following the killing of Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr by the then Ba'athist government of Iraq. The protests and ensuing violence were strongest in the heavily Shia neighborhoods of Baghdad, as well as southern majority Shiite cities such as Karbala, Nasiriyah, Kufa, Najaf, and Basra.
The persecution of Shia Muslims by the Islamic State refers to the persecution of Shia Muslims by the Islamic extremist group Islamic State (IS), which took place in Iraq, Syria, and other areas across the world.
On 7 July 2016, at least 56 people were killed and 75 injured after a group of attackers stormed the Mausoleum of Sayid Mohammed bin Ali al-Hadi, a Shia holy site in Balad, Iraq. The attackers included suicide car bombers, suicide bombers on foot, and several gunmen. They attacked Shia pilgrims celebrating Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. There were three suicide bombers, and one of them was killed by security personnel. There were other attackers too. ISIL also launched several mortars into the area.
The 2015–2018 Iraqi protests over deteriorating economic conditions and state corruption started in July 2018 in Baghdad and other major Iraqi cities, mainly in the central and southern provinces.