is living in the city of Mosul, having left Syria because of the ongoing civil war. Many analysts are afraid that the Ba'ath Party has the potential power to initiate another civil war in Iraq because of al-Douri's popularity in localities with Sunni majorities. Organization and structure Regional (central) level The Regional Command (RC) () was the Iraqi Regional Branch highest decision-making organ. Throughout its history, the RC has normally had 19-21 members. When in power, the Directorate of Security Affairs was responsible for the security of the president and the senior members of the Regional Command. The Regional Congress was (in theory) the de jure decision-making organ on Iraqi regional affairs when in session, but was (in practice) a tool in control of the Regional Command. Congresses held 1st Regional Congress (December 1955) 2nd Regional Congress (late 1957) 3rd Regional Congress (July 1960) 4th Regional Congress (May 1962) 5th Regional Congress (13–25 September 1963) 6th Regional Congress (October 1966) 7th Regional Congress (1969) 8th Regional Congress (1974) 9th Regional Congress (June 1982) 10th Regional Congress (September 1991) 11th Regional Congress (1993) 12th Regional Congress (May 2001) The Ba'ath Party had its own secretariat (), through which every major decision in the country was channelled. According to Joseph Sassoon, the secretariat functioned as the "party's board of directors," overseeing the running of the party branches which, in turn, controlled and collected information about civilian and military life throughout the country. The secretariat had the power to propose marriages and, in certain cases, to approve and disapprove marriages for the sake of the party. At the 8th Regional Congress, the leadership laid emphasis on building "a strong and central national authority." The party leadership's response to the party's apparent lack of centralisation came with a Revolutionary Command Council resolution which stated that "all correspondence between state ministries and party organisations are to be sent through the party secretariat." The head of the secretariat was the deputy director, who was the second in the order of precedence. The office of director of the secretariat was the leading organ within the body. The secretariat had 11 departments: the Military and Armaments Department, Vocational Schools Department, Courses Department, Finance Department, Organisational and Political Department, Party Affairs and Information Department, Personnel and Administrative Department, Technical Department, Information and Studies Department, Legal Department and the Audit Department. The only non-department under the direct responsibility of the