Kurdistan Islamic Union

From dKosopedia

Category: Kurdistan

(Other Political Parties)

The Kurdistan Islamic Union is the third largest Kurd party. They are a moderate Sunni Islamist party and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood (founded in 1928). The KIU was formally establish in 1994 but had been active prior to that having contested the Kurdish elections in Kurd controls Iraq in 1992.

The party is led by Salah al-Din Muhammad Baha' al-Din. He also serves on the governing council. The organization has good relations with the larger secular Kurdish parties, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). I've been unable to find sources on the KIU's position during the KDP v PUK civil war (1994-1998). It has strong support among Kurdish students and often benefits from "protest votes" from Kurds dissatisfied with either or both the KDP or PUK.

The KIU is a member of the Islamic Kurdish League and involved with an assortment of charity and mosque building work. Much of their financial support comes from Saudi charities, though they don't appear to be a Wahhabi sect.

Most of the information on the party is in Arabic (which the author can't read) so my information on their program is limited. As with other Kurdish groups they stress the need for Kurdish autonomy. As with other Islamist groups they also want Iraq to be an Islamic state. Members of the Muslim Brotherhood have tended to be peaceful and pragmatic in the last couple decades (the Muslim Brotherhood were implicated in the assassination of Sadat in 1981). The KIU's third place standing among Kurds will make them even more pragmatic.

External Link

• KIU website (in Arabic)