(Encyclopedia) Majid, Ali Hassan al-Majid, Ali Hassan al-äˈlē hāˈsän äl-mäjēdˈ [key], 1941–2010, Iraqi general and Ba'athist, cousin of Saddam Hussein. After Hussein took power (1979), Majid played a…
(Encyclopedia) Maliki, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, Nuri Kamal al-n&oomacr;rˈē kämälˈ äl-mälˈĭkē [key], 1950–, Iraqi political leader. A Shiite who worked as an education official in Hilla, he was a…
(Encyclopedia) Abu'l Hasan al-Uqlidisi, c. a.d. 920–c. a.d. 980, Arab mathematician working in Damascus and Baghdad. He wrote (952–53) a treatise on arithmetic and Arabic numerals that is the first…
(Encyclopedia) Bakr, Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr, Ahmad Hasan al-äkhmädˈ häsänˈ äl-bäkˈər [key], 1914–82, president of Iraq (1968–79). He served as an officer in the Iraqi army but was forced to retire (1958…
(Encyclopedia) Baghdadi, Abu Bakr al-, nom de guerre of Awwad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, 1971–2019, Iraqi jihadist leader. Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, he helped found a Sunni…
(Encyclopedia) Nimeiri or Nimeiry, Muhammed Jaafar al-Nimeiri or Nimeiry, Muhammed Jaafar al-m&oomacr;hämˈmäd jäfärˈ äl-nĭmārˈē [key], 1930–, Sudanese army officer and politician. Early active in…
(Encyclopedia) Abd al-Aziz IV, 1880–1943, sultan of Morocco (1894–1908), son of Hassan. His weak control was evident after the death (c.1900) of the regent Ba Ahmed. His submissiveness to foreign…
(Encyclopedia) Zarqawi, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Abu Musab al-äˈb&oomacr; m&oomacr;säb äl-zärkäˈwē [key], nom de guerre of Ahmad Fadhil Nazzar al-Khalaylah, 1966–2006, Islamic terrorist leader,…
(Encyclopedia) Abd al-Hamid II, 1842–1918, Ottoman sultan (1876–1909). His uncle, Abd al-Aziz, was deposed from the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) in 1876 by the Young Turks, a liberal…