Qais Khazali

Sheikh Qais Khazali
قيس الخزعلي
Qais al-Khazali
Secretary-General of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq
Incumbent
Assumed office July 2006
Head of Parliamentary Bloc
Incumbent
Assumed office 2014
Personal details
Born	(1974-06-20) 20 June 1974 (age 50) Sadr City, Ba'athist Iraq
Political party	Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq
Other political affiliations	Fatah Alliance Sadrist Movement (until 2006)
Military service
Allegiance	Iraq
Branch/service	Popular Mobilization Forces (until 2020) Islamic Resistance in Iraq (since 2020)
Years of service	2003–present
Rank	Commander
Unit	Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Mahdi Army (2003–2006)
Battles/wars	Iraq War Syrian Civil War War in Iraq (2013–2017)

Qais Hadi Sayed Hasan al-Khazali (Arabic: قيس هادي سيد حسن الخزعلي; born 20 June 1974) is an Iraqi politician and militant leader who is the founder and Secretary-General of the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, an Iraqi Shi'ite paramilitary organization and political party. He is best known as the founder and leader of the Iran-backed Special Groups in Iraq from June 2006 until his capture by British forces in March 2007.^[1] As head of the Special Groups, Khazali directed arms shipment, formation of squads to participate in fighting, and insurgent operations, most notably the 20 January 2007 attack on American forces in Karbala.^[2] A former follower of Muqtada al-Sadr, he was expelled from the Mahdi Army in 2004 for giving "unauthorized orders" and founded his own group: Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) also known as the "Khazali Network" that was later designated as a terrorist group by the U.S. Department of State. During his incarceration, Akram al-Kaabi became acting commander of the organization until his release in January 2010.^[3]