Imad Ibn Junayd

Affiliation: Islamic Dawa Party (Shiite Plurality Political Party), Kurdish Regional Government

Position: Deputy Party Leader

Background

The Kurds have been fighting for recognition for longer than your great-grandfather could remember. Growing up, you heard about the ups and downs, the few glorious fleeting moments of victory and freedom, and the many abuses, losses and murders inflicted on your people. You were only 10 when the Iran-Iraq war started, and you didn't understand what was happening to your community or why. Friends suddenly disappeared, along with their entire families, parents lost jobs, and were spit on by soldiers in the streets.

This continued for all your teen years, and began to seem almost normal to you. Your parents were fairly lucky, and you were able to continue through high school. You did well in school, and hoped to go on to college and become a doctor. With a medical degree, you could come back and help your community, and alleviate some of the worst of the neglect.

Shortly after you graduated from high school, your village was razed by in the Iraqi government's Anfal campaign against all the Kurdish people. Your parents and your sister were killed, but they helped you and your younger brother get out. You had a cousin in Turkey, and they gave you some money, a little food and an address. After six days of hiding in the desert with your brother, stealing water and eating the little food you had brought, you made your way to the border. Under cover of darkness, you managed to sneak across a lightly patrolled section of border.

You got there only to find that things were, if anything, worse in Turkey than in Iraq. You spoke nearly unaccented Arabic, and passable English, and started passing yourself and your brother off as Iraqi refugees. You got some fake papers and started working doing a mix of whatever jobs you could find: everything from translation and English lessons to washing dishes.

Over several years of work, you managed to save up enough to start taking a few classes at a local university. Doing tutoring and dishwashing, you were able to work mostly at night and take classes during the day. You no longer had the drive to be a doctor, because you no longer had people to care for. Instead, you studied to be a lawyer. You hoped that somehow you could make a difference politically, although you had no clear plan. You just needed to feel like you were making some sort of progress.

After working yourself slowly through college part time, you were able to get into law school. By this time your brother was working too, and he helped you make it through. You were able to get a job doing clerical work for a corporate lawyer, and, when you finished school, he took you into the firm. It wasn't making a difference in the way you had hoped, but you made more money than you had ever dreamed of.

You worked there for several years. You watched the Americans invade Iraq with trepidation, but also with hope. The Americans had claimed to care about the Kurds before, perhaps they would actually do something this time. Indeed, in 2005, they set up an autonomous Kurdistani region in Iraq. You knew you had to go back and help your people.

You left Turkey, your friends and your job, and went back to Iraq. You worked with your people to defend their rights, to set up their government. You didn't have any high political positions, but you worked in whatever way you could. Then, in 2010, the attacks started. A regular pattern of continuous insurgent attacks targeted the Kurds, and, particularly, the government. Between attacks from the outside and infiltration and disagreement from the inside, Kurdistan fell apart and was eventually "protected" by the Iraqi military.

At that point, there was little you could do through legitimate channels, but you started gathering followers. If you could get enough political power, and control over a bit of land, you knew you could set up a working Kurd government again. Maybe not independent, but a region within Iraq with some self-rule. However, you had no way to do this.

So, you began, once again, to pass for just another Shiite exile. You started working with the mainstream Islamic Dawa party to gain power. You managed to work your way up to a position of some power within the party, and even get into parliament. However, you still have no real political power of your own. If you act against the party in any way, they will kick you right out.

However, this meeting could be a real opportunity for you. You are here with Prime Minister Basit Ibn Karim. He trusts you as much as any powerful politician trusts his inferior: he thinks you agree with him, but want his job. That's a good thing for him to think, he'll be watching for the wrong things. You need to keep your cover for now and work for the party, so as not to lose what power you have. You don't have very much influence within the party structure, even though you have had political success.

You need to find some way, while you are here, to get the Kurds a little bit of political power, and some land. You would really prefer the central Kurdish homeland of Kirkuk, but you would settle for any of the traditional Kurdish territories (Sulaymaniyyah, Arbil, Dahuk, or Kirkuk). In fact, you'd really take any piece of land, but you don't have much (well, anything, really) to offer for either of these things. You don't even have much sway with your party leader. But this is your great chance for your people, and you must succeed.

Contacts

Sabriyya Nejem: The leader of the Sunni insurgent group that got Wafi Nagi into power. Basit is worried that they may be unhappy with Wafi Nagi's work, and planning to start fighting again.

Basit Ibn Karim: The Prime Minister of Iraq, and leader of the Shiite Islamic Dawa Party. You have to continue to pass yourself off as a Shiite politician and his (relatively) loyal subordinate. He thinks that you are trying to get his job, but fundamentally agree with his goals. In order to maintain your power, you need to follow his orders, at least where he can see. That should still leave you plenty of time to pursue your own goals.

Wafi Nagi: A major Sunni politician. Wafi got into power in order to calm down a particularly nasty group of Sunni insurgents. Since then, he has done little to pursue their goals. You're not surprised that they seem upset with him.

Munir Faiz: The head of the Classical Liberal Party in the Iraqi government. Basit hates him for his Western ways. He's somewhat corrupt, but mostly, he does seem to be working for his people (the Westernized middle class and rich). While you're not too happy about his goals, you do respect his efforts on behalf of his people.

Abilities and Resources

Stats

• Combat: 3
• Hitpoints: 5
• Sanity: 5

Goals

• Maintain your cover, and, therefore, your power, by helping your political superior and preventing him from learning your true agenda.
• Gain land and political power for the Kurds in any way you can. Sulaymaniyyah, Arbil and Dahuk were all once part of the Kurdish Regional Government. Kirkuk has always been claimed by the Kurds and fighting over it was what cost the Kurds so much recently.
• Go out and get US, UK or UN support, support anywhere else that you can get support, and look for more.