The 11-member council of the party, which draws its support from Iraqi Shias, is preparing to elect a leader, The Financial Times quoted two leading Da'wa figures as saying in Basra on 17 April. A meeting of the party held earlier in the day was attended by Sayyid Ahmed al-Moussawi, a Shia cleric who had returned to Iraq at the end of April after 23 years in exile in Iran, and Hassan al-Jabri, a member of Da'wa's political office. Da'wa refused to join the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), a Tehran-based umbrella group of Shia parties and individuals headed by Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, who is still in Iran.