Al-Qaidah (newspaper)

former Iraq newspaper

Al-Qaidah (Arabic: القاعدة, The Base) was a newspaper published in Iraq. It was used as a part of the Iraqi Communist Party.[1][2] It was printed at random times for 13 years.[3]

Al-Qaidah
FoundedJanuary 1943
Political alignmentCommunist
LanguageArabic
Ceased publicationJune 19, 1956 (1956-06-19)
Circulation~5,400 (as of 1954–55)

Establishment

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The first issue of al-Qaidah came out in January 1943.[3][4] It was set up by Yusuf Salman Yusuf (Fahd)'s three supporters in the party Central Committee. They were Daud as-Sayegh, Hussain Muhammad ash-Shabibi and Zaki Muhammad Basim. The newspaper wanted to compete with ash-Shararah ('The Spark') for the position as the party newspaper. The different factions of the party were known by the names of their publications.[4] As-Sayegh served as editor of al-Qaidah before being removed from the party.[5]

Al-Qaidah was banned by the government. People caught with an issue of the newspaper could be put in prison.[6] By 1947, bout 3000 copies of each issue of al-Qaidah were being printed.[1]: 191  It was one of the most widely read newspapers in the country at the time.[7] It was primarily read in Baghdad, the Shiite south and the Kurdish north.[1]: 181  During 1954–55, seventeen issues of al-Qaidah were published. Its issues had an average circulation of around 5,400.[8]

Ittihad ul-Amal

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In 1955, Ittihad ul-Amal was founded. After this, al-Qaidah began focusing more on agrarian issues.[9]

Shut down

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Al-Qaidah was shut down in 1956. The last issue was published on June 19, 1956.[10]

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Elizabeth F. Thompson (15 April 2013). Justice Interrupted. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-07609-9.
  2. Вадим Васильевич Кортунов (1983). Справочник пропагандиста-международника. Политиздат. p. 189.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Вестник Московского университета: Журналистика. Изд-во Московского Университета. 1972. p. 55.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Tareq Y. Ismael (2008). The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Iraq. Cambridge University Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-521-87394-9.
  5. Ṣalāḥ Khurasān (1993). Safhat min tarikh al-harikah al-shuyuìyah fi al-Ìraq.
  6. Sasson Somekh (2012). Life After Baghdad: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew in Israel, 1950–2000. Sussex Academic Press. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-84519-502-1.
  7. Bassam Yousif (17 June 2013). Human Development in Iraq: 1950–1990. Routledge. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-136-61986-1.
  8. Johan Franzén (2011). Red Star Over Iraq: Iraqi Communism Before Saddam. Hurst Publishers. p. 23. ISBN 978-1-84904-101-0.
  9. Tareq Y. Ismael (2008). The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Iraq. Cambridge University Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-521-87394-9.
  10. Tareq Y. Ismael (2008). The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Iraq. Cambridge University Press. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978-0-521-87394-9.