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Iraqi anti-Saddam groups

There were a number of groups in Iraq opposed to the regime of Saddam Hussein.

They can be roughly divided into three groups:

• Shi'a groups in the south
• Kurds in the north, organizing Iraqi Kurdistan since 1991
• Arab opposition groups suppressed in Baghdad

Groups include:

• the umbrella group Iraqi National Congress
• two Kurdish factions:
  • Kurdistan Democratic Party
  • Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
• the monarchist group the Constitutional Monarchy Movement
• the Iraqi National Accord
• the Iran-supported Shiite group Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq

Leaders of these groups met with Dick Cheney in August 2002 as advocates of the US plan to invade Iraq. The leader of the KDP, Massoud Barzani, refused to attend, striking a blow to the Bush administration, as Barzani is one of the most influential of the leaders.