Abdul Zahra Othman Mohammad, a.k.a. Izzedin Salim

From the news reports:

Ezzedine Salim, an Islamist politician and writer who this month held the council's rotating presidency ...

A newspaper editor and the author of 36 books on religion and politics, he was jailed by Saddam Hussein from 1974 to 1978. In 1983, he fled to Iran. In exile, he adopted the name Ezzedine Salim. When he returned to Iraq last year, he established the National Center for Social Studies and History in Basra.

NYT 18 May 2004

In short, somber eulogies, Salim, a Shiite, was remembered for his long opposition to Hussein's rule. ...

Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N. special envoy to Iraq who is helping form an interim government, said Salim "dedicated his life and his struggle for the sake of his country and his religion."

Salim, who was in his sixties, envisioned a country "where everyone extends his hand to each other," Brahimi said. "I believe this was his will. But first we must all work together to build the Iraq that Izzedin Salim sacrificed his life for."

WP 19 May 2004