Via written questions and answers passed back and forth by trusted intermediaries in Iraq, Time has conducted the first-ever Western media interview with Izzat al-Douri, former lieutenant of Saddam Hussein and the most senior member of the Ba'athist regime still at large. Today, al-Douri is America's most wanted Iraqi fugitive, and a leading figure in the Iraqi insurgency. TIME: Does the Ba'ath Party still have a role in Iraqi politics?
Izzat al-Douri: If you mean the current political process, the Ba'ath Party rejects it, because it was manufactured by and serves the occupying force and is destructive of our country. The political role of the Ba'ath in the struggle [against the occupation of Iraq] is to mobilize and bring together the energies of the people for the fight to expel the occupation and liberate our country.