The Islamic Movement of Kurdistan is an Iraqi political party. It is a Sunni Islamist and Kurdish party based in the city of Halabjah in northern Iraq. The party was founded in the late 1980s by Sunni clerics opposed to the rule of Saddam Hussein. Its first leader was Shaykh Uthman Abd-Aziz. The group cooperated with Iran in the Iran-Iraq War. After the Gulf War the IMK became involved in the violent clashes for control of Iraqi Kurdistan. Despite these early tensions the IMK later participated in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan government. It continued to receive support from Iran, and also Wahhabi groups in Saudi Arabia. The movement ruled Halabjah and Irbil, but did not impose strict Islamic law leading to internal divisions. Some more radical members joined the al-Qaeda aligned Ansar al-Islam. The group did not join the Kurdish coalition in the 2005 Iraqi election running independently. It received over 60,000 votes (about 0.7%) and two seats in the transitional National Assembly of Iraq. After the elections, the party agreed to join the Kurdish alliance's National Assembly caucus. Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ... Islamism is a political ideology derived from the conservative religious views of Muslim fundamentalism. ... Kurdish may refer to: The Kurdish people The Kurdish language This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Halabja is a town in Iraq, located about 150 miles northeast of Baghdad and 8-10 miles from the Iranian border. ... Saddam Hussein Saddām Hussein Ê»Abd al-MajÄ«d al-TikrÄ«t, spelled Husayn or Hussain; (Arabic صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي; born April 28, 1937 ) was the President of Iraq from 1979 until his removal by U.S.-led coalition forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: Iran-Iraq War The Iran-Iraq War, also called the First Persian Gulf War, or the Imposed War (جنگ تحمیلی) in Iran, was a war between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran lasting from September 1980 to August 1988. ... The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) (est 1975) (Kurdish: Yaketi Nishtimani Kurdistan) // Mission The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan has been working for self-determination, human rights, democracy and peace for the Kurdish people of Iraq, since its establishment in 1 June 1975. ... Wahhabism (sometimes spelled Wahabbism or Wahabism) is a movement of Islam named after Muhammad ibn Abd al Wahhab (1703–1792). ... This article is about the province of Iraq. ... Al-Qaeda (Arabic: القاعدة, the foundation or the base) is the name given to a worldwide network of militant Islamist organizations under the leadership of Osama bin Laden. ... Ansar al-Islam (Arabic: انصار الاسلام, Supporters or Partisans of Islam) is an Islamist group, promoting a radical interpretation of Islam and holy war. ... The Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan is the name of the electoral coalition being presented as a united Kurdish list in the 2005 election in Iraq. ... Iraqi police officers hold up their index fingers marked with purple indelible ink, a security measure to prevent double voting. ... The Iraqi National Assembly is the unicameral parliament of Iraq which meets in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. ...

References

• Islamic Movement of Kurdistan
• Profile: Kurdish Islamist movement