Hafiz al-Qurati

Hafiz al-Qurati is/was the leader of the United Republic of Iraq and Mesopotamia (URIM), a rebel Baathist group in Southern Iraq.

Early life
Hafiz al-Qurati was said to have been born in 1974 (which would make him either 40 or 41) in the city of Basra, which currently serves as the URIM's capital. He was born the fifth of six children to Hafiz and Kalisa al-Qurati, and he had four elder sisters and a younger brother. As a child, Hafiz was infatuated with the ideals of the then-ruling Ba'athist party, under Saddam Hussein. He aspired to be just like Hussein, so in 1991, at the age of 16/17, he joined the military under a forged birth certificate courtesy of his mother.

Hafiz' father died when he was still very young, potentially before his youngest brother was even born.

Military career
Since Hafiz was too late to participate in the Gulf War, he didn't receive much extensive training until his mid-20s, when tensions with the west soured once again in the aftermath of the Oklahoma bombings. He participated in numerous military exercises and on the 10th anniversary of his enlistment, he was offered the opportunity to meet Saddam Hussein. It was said that during their meet, Hafiz fainted after Saddam named him "Allah's soldier on Earth".

At the time, the west (specifically America) listed Iraq under its "Axis of Evil" following the 9/11 attacks. Following this, early in 2002, Hafiz was invited to introduce Saddam to the Arab League at their annual summit in Beirut. Hafiz accepted and he gained recognition from across the Middle East, but was not too popular with Iran or Turkey, who began to shut Iraq out as Saddam's regime became less popular abroad. All the time, Hafiz continued to climb the ladder of the military ranks until early 2003, when Hussein called him to Baghdad on March 20th; a pivotal day in Iraqi history.

Becoming a fugitive
On March 20th, 2003, Hafiz met Saddam in Baghdad, and he was offered the role of General. Hafiz gratefully accepted and headed to Basra to tell his family the great news. However, news came in that Western forces had begun an invasion of Iraq. Unbeknownst to Hafiz at this time, his entire family had been killed during the invasion, but he would'nt find out until his first return to Basra in 2006.

Hafiz was arrested, along with numerous other Iraqi officers, and imprisoned as Saddam's regime collapsed, and gave way to absolute anarchy. The US occupation was something Hafiz was infuriated with, so he intentionally started a riot at Camp Bucca in January 2004, and he, along with many other prisoners, escaped and went into hiding.

From this point up until late 2005, Hafiz' whereabouts were completely black. He was then recaptured at Umm Qasr by patrolling Iraqi officers who noticed a slum that appeared to house numerous fugitives and outlaws. He was returned to Camp Bucca, where he supposedly met ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but he escaped in February 2006, around the same time the First Iraqi Civil War began. He reportedly returned to Basra to tell of his rough three years to his family, only to find they had been killed during the invasion three years prior.

More to be added.