Iraq executes killer of Mohammed Baqir Al-Sadr

2026-02-09 - 10:06

Shafaq News- Baghdad Iraq has carried out the death sentence against Saadoun Sabri Al-Qaisi, convicted of crimes against humanity, including the killing of prominent Shiite cleric Mohammed Baqir al-Sadr, the National Security Service announced on Monday. In a statement, the agency said the execution of Al-Qaisi, also convicted of killing scholars from the Al-Hakim family and other civilians, followed the completion of all judicial procedures and investigations and intelligence follow-up. Al-Sadr ranks among the most influential Shiite religious, intellectual, and political figures in modern history. He founded the Islamic Dawa Party and emerged as a leading opponent of the regime of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. In January 2025, a security source revealed to Shafaq News that Al-Qaisi, born in 1947 and a senior official under the former Baathist regime, personally transported Al-Sadr and his sister, Bint al-Huda, to an area now known as Bismayah, south of Baghdad, where he executed them in 1980 with the assistance of Adel Ibrahim Al-Athami. Al-Qaisi fled to Syria after the regime’s collapse in 2003, adopted the alias “Hajj Saleh,” and later returned to Iraq, settling in Erbil on February 26, 2023.