1. In the end, the Free Patriotic Movement candidates joined the list led by the former regional secretary of the Baath Party, Faiz Shukr.

2. First of all, the Baath Party was a Pan-Arab socialist party that sought to unite the entire Arab world under Baathist rule.

3. In examining former Baathists' possible roles in the Islamic State, it is important to consider the nature of the Arab Socialist Baath Party and its rule in Iraq, which lasted from 1968 until 2003