 Many who enjoyed special status during the leadership of Saddam Hussein were from Tikrit, which is in turn within an area of Iraq where the Arab population is mostly Sunni.People who generally hold the ex-vice-president, Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri, in exceptionally high esteem were members of the security, intelligence and police forces from the previous government.Jaysh Muhammad was initially believed to consist of fighters who had infiltrated Iraq from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.