Ten
years ago on this date, 22 July 2003, two of Saddam Hussein’s sons, Uday and
Qusay Hussein were both killed in a military assassination. I will post
information on them from Wikipedia. Please see the Weapon of the Fortnight to
learn more about one of the vehicles used in attack.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uday_Hussein
Uday Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti (Arabic: عُدي صدّام حُسين) (18 June 1964 – 22 July 2003)
was the eldest son of Saddam Hussein from his first wife, Sajida Talfah, and
the brother of Qusay Hussein. Uday was for several years seen as the heir
apparent of his father; however, Uday lost his place in the line of succession
due to injuries sustained in an assassination attempt, his erratic behavior and
his troubled relationship with his father and brother. Following the United
States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, he was killed along with his brother by a
secretive combined Special Operations Task Force during a 6-hour gunfight in
Mosul.
Uday
produced the newspaper Babel and a local Iraqi TV channel called
"Al-shabab TV". He was briefly married to the daughter of Izzat
Ibrahim ad-Douri, who was Vice President and Deputy Chairman of the
Revolutionary Command Council, but he later divorced her.
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|
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Born
|
18 June
1964
Tikrit, Iraq |
Died
|
22 July
2003 (aged 39)
Mosul, Iraq |
Parents
|
Saddam
Hussein
(deceased)
Sajida Talfah |
Relatives
|
Qusay
Hussein
(brother, deceased)
|
Biography
Uday
Saddam was born in Tikrit to Saddam Hussein and Sajida Talfah while his father
was in prison.
Uday
graduated from high school with very high marks. He started his University days
in Baghdad University College of Medicine. He only lasted in the Medical
College for three days, so he moved to College of Engineering about a kilometer
away. Uday earned a degree in engineering and graduated from Baghdad
University, ranking No. 1 in a class of 76 students. However, some of his
professors have testified he barely squeezed by on many courses, mainly using
his status as Saddam's son to get high marks.
Although
his status as Saddam's elder son made him Saddam's prospective successor, Uday
fell out of favour with his father. In October 1988, at a party in honour of
Suzanne Mubarak, wife of then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Uday murdered
his father's personal valet and food taster, Kamel Hana Gegeo, possibly at the
request of his mother. Before an assemblage of horrified guests, an intoxicated
Uday bludgeoned Gegeo, reputedly administering the coup de grâce with an
electric carving knife. Gegeo had recently introduced Saddam to a younger
woman, Samira Shahbandar, who later became Saddam's second wife. Uday
considered his father's relationship with Shahbandar an insult to his mother.
He furthermore feared losing succession to Gegeo, whose loyalty and fidelity to
Saddam Hussein was unquestioned.
As
punishment for the murder, Saddam briefly imprisoned his son. The original
sentence was eight years; Uday probably served only three months in a private
prison. In response to personal intervention from King Hussein of Jordan,
Saddam released Uday, banishing him to Switzerland as the assistant to the
Iraqi ambassador there. He was expelled by the Swiss government after he was
repeatedly arrested for fighting.
Saddam
later appointed Uday head of the Iraqi Olympic committee and soccer federation,
and subsequently the head of one of Saddam's security organizations. In the
former role, he tortured athletes who failed to win. Uday seemed proud of his
reputation and called himself abu sarhan, Arabic for "wolf".
Uday
sustained permanent injuries during an assassination attempt in December 1996.
Struck by eight bullets while driving his Porsche, Uday was initially believed
to be paralyzed. Evacuated to Ibn Sina Hospital, he eventually recovered but
with a noticeable limp. Despite repeated operations, however, a bullet remained
lodged in his spine and could not be removed due to its location near the
spinal cord. In the wake of Uday's subsequent disabilities, Saddam gave Qusay
increasing responsibility and authority, designating him as his heir apparent
in 2000.
Uday
opened accounts with Yahoo! and MSN Messenger, which created controversy when
the provisioning of the accounts allegedly violated U.S. trade sanctions
against Iraq. Uday also amassed a large video collection, found in his palace
in 2003, much of which featured himself in both public and private situations.
Allegations
of crimes
A report released on 20 March
2003, one day after the American led invasion of Iraq, by ABC news detailed several
allegations against Uday:
- As head of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, Uday oversaw the imprisonment and torture of Iraqi athletes who were deemed not to have performed to expectations. According to widespread reports, torturers beat and caned the soles of the football players' feet—inflicting intense pain without leaving visible marks on the rest of their bodies. Uday reportedly kept scorecards with written instructions on how many times each player should be beaten after a poor showing. He would insult athletes who performed below his expectations by calling them dogs and monkeys to their faces. One defector reported that jailed football players were forced to kick a concrete ball after failing to reach the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals. The Iraqi national football team were seen with their heads shaved after failing to achieve a good result in a tournament in the 1980s. It was widely circulated that Uday ordered the shaving as part of the punishment. Another defector claimed that athletes were dragged through a gravel pit and subsequently immersed in a sewage tank to induce infection in the victims' wounds. After Iraq lost, 4–1, to Japan in the quarter finals of the 2000 AFC Asian Cup in Lebanon, goalkeeper Hashim Hassan, defender Abdul Jaber and forward Qahtan Chatir were labelled as guilty of loss and eventually flogged for three days by Uday's security.
Other allegations include:
- Kidnapping young Iraqi women from the streets in order to rape them. Uday was known to intrude on parties and otherwise "discover" women whom he would later rape. Time published an article in 2003 detailing his sexual brutality.
- When U.S. troops captured his mansion in Baghdad, they found a personal zoo stocked with lions and cheetahs; an underground parking garage for his collection of luxury cars; paintings glorifying him and his mother with Saddam (which was known to have infuriated his father); Cuban cigars inscribed with his name; and millions of dollars worth of fine wines, liquor and heroin. An HIV testing kit was also found among his personal effects. He amassed millions of U.S. dollars by running façade corporations illegally trading with Iran (although, at that time, UN restrictions did not allow foreign trading. Only later, Iraq was allowed to import certain commodities such as food and medical supplies legally under the UN Oil For Food programme).
- Usage of an iron maiden on persons running afoul of him.
- Beating an army officer unconscious when the man refused to allow Uday to dance with his wife; the man later died of his injuries. Uday also shot and killed an army officer who did not salute him.
- Stealing approximately 1,200 luxury vehicles, including a Rolls-Royce Corniche valued at over $200,000. A Lamborghini LM002, given to him as a gift by former Leader of Libya Muammar Gaddafi, was later blown up by U.S. forces to demonstrate the effects of a car bomb.
- Plotting, in 2000, to assassinate Ahmed Chalabi, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress, presumably to impress his father after Qusay was named heir apparent.
Death
On 22
July 2003, Task Force 20, aided by
troops of the United States Army 101st Airborne Division, had a showdown with
Uday, Qusay and Qusay's 14-year-old son Mustapha
during a raid on a home in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. He had been the Ace of Hearts on the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards
(with Qusay being the Ace of Clubs). Acting on a tip from an unidentified
Iraqi, the blocking element from the 101st Airborne Division provided security
while the Task Force 20 operators attempted to apprehend the inhabitants of the
house. After U.S. troops hotwired Uday's
Lamborghini, he revealed himself, upon
which a gunfight ensued. The assault element withdrew to request backup. As
many as 200 American troops, later aided by OH-58
Kiowa helicopters and an A-10
"Warthog", surrounded and fired upon the house, thus
killing Uday with Qusay and Qusay's son. After approximately four hours of
battle, soldiers entered the house and found four bodies, including the Hussein
brothers' bodyguard.
Later,
the American command said that dental records
had conclusively identified two of the dead men as Saddam
Hussein's sons. They also announced that the informant (possibly the
owner of the villa in Mosul in which the
brothers were killed) would receive the combined $30 million reward previously
offered for their apprehension.
The owner
of the villa, Nawaf az-Zeidan, who is distantly related to Saddam, was granted
U.S. citizenship, and was permitted to
leave Iraq. Locals claimed that Zeidan had informed United States forces that
Saddam's sons were staying there, as the brothers became overbearing in their
demands and took his hospitality for granted. On 18 June 2004, Zeidan's brother
Salaah al-Zeidan was killed, as well as three of his male relatives (including
an eight-year-old boy), who were travelling in the same vehicle.
The U.S.
Administration released graphic pictures of the Hussein brothers' bodies. When
criticized, the U.S. military's response was to point out that these men were
no ordinary combatants, and to express
hope that confirmation of the deaths would bring closure to the Iraqi people. Uday was buried in a cemetery near Tikrit alongside Qusay and Mustapha Hussein.
In
popular culture
Uday
is portrayed by Philip Arditti in House of Saddam, and by Dominic Cooper
in The Devil's Double. The latter film is the life story of his alleged
longtime body double, Latif Yahia, who's also written three books on his
experience – I Was Saddam's Son, The Devil's Double and The
Black Hole.
Uday
is a character in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo by Rajiv Joseph.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qusay_Hussein
Qusay Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti (Arabic: قصي صدام حسين) (or Qusai) (17 May 1966 – 22
July 2003) was the second son of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. He was
appointed as his father's heir apparent in 2000.
 |
| Qusay Hussein |
Born
|
Qusay
Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti
17 May 1966 Baghdad, Iraq |
Died
|
22 July
2003 (aged 37)
Mosul, Iraq |
Cause of
death
|
Killed
in a firefight
|
Resting
place
|
Al-Awja, Iraq
|
Residence
|
|
Nationality
|
|
Other
names
|
Qusay
Saddam Hussein
|
Occupation
|
Soldier,
Heir
apparent
|
Known for
|
Relation
of Saddam Hussein
|
Home
town
|
Baghdad, Iraq
|
Height
|
5 feet
11 inches
|
Political
party
|
|
Religion
|
|
Spouse(s)
|
Sahar
1988–2003,his death)
|
Children
|
Mustafa
Qusay Saddam al-Tikriti
(1989–2003;deceased) Yahya Qusay Saddam al-Tikriti (born 1991) Yaqub Qusay Saddam al-Tikriti |
Parents
|
Saddam
Hussein (father,1937–2006;deceased)
Sajida Talfah (mother,1937–present) |
Relatives
|
Uday Saddam Hussein (brother; deceased)
Maher Abd al-Rashid (father in law) |
Family
Qusay's
older brother Uday Saddam was viewed as Saddam's heir until he sustained
serious injuries in a 1996 assassination attempt. Unlike Uday, who was known
for extravagance and erratic, violent behavior, Qusay Saddam kept a low
profile. He was married to Sahar Maher Abd al-Rashid; the daughter of Maher Abd
al-Rashid, a top ranking military official, and had three sons; One of the
sons, Mustapha Qusay (born 3 January 1989 in Tikrit), was killed alongside his
father in the shootout with U.S. troops. The other two: Yahya Qusay (born 1991)
and Yaqub Qusay are presumed alive, but their whereabouts are unknown.
Before the 2003 invasion
Unlike
other members of his family and the government, little information is known
about Qusay, politically or personally. It is believed that until the 2003
Invasion of Iraq Qusay was the supervisor of the Iraqi Republican Guard and the
head of internal security forces (possibly the Special Security Organization
(SSO)), and had authority over other Iraqi military units.
Qusay
played a role in crushing the Shiite uprising in the
aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War and is also thought to have masterminded the
destruction of the southern marshes of Iraq. The wholesale destruction of these
marshes ended a centuries-old way of life that prevailed among the Shiite Marsh Arabs who made the wetlands their
home, and ruined the habitat for dozens of species of migratory birds. The
Iraqi government stated that the action was intended to produce usable
farmland, though a number of outsiders believe the destruction was aimed
against the Marsh Arabs as retribution for their participation in the 1991
uprising.
Iraqi
dissidents claim that Qusay was responsible for the killing of many political
activists. The Sunday Times reported that Qusay ordered the killing of
Khalis Mohsen al-Tikriti, an engineer at the military industrialization
organization, because he believed Mohsen was planning to leave Iraq. In 1998,
Iraqi opposition groups accused Qusay of ordering the execution of thousands of
political prisoners after hundreds of inmates were summarily executed to make
room for new prisoners in crowded jails.
Death
On
22 July 2003, troops of the 101st Airborne 3/327th Infantry HQ and C-Company,
aided by U.S. Special Forces killed Qusay, his 14-year-old son Mustapha, and
his older brother Uday, during a raid on a home in the northern Iraqi city of
Mosul. Acting on a tip from a cousin of Uday and Qusay, a special forces team
attempted to apprehend the inhabitants of the house. After being fired on, the
special forces moved back and called for backup. As little as 40 101st Soldiers
and 8 Task force 121 operators were on the scene. After Task Force 121 Members
took superficial wounds to their arm and calf the 3/327th Infantry surrounded
and fired on the house with a TOW missile, Mark 19 Automatic Grenade Launcher,
50 Caliber Automatic Machine guns and small arms. After about four hours of
battle (the whole operation lasted 6 hours), the soldiers entered the house and
found four dead, including the two brothers and their bodyguard. There were
reports that Qusay's 14-year-old son Mustapha was the fourth body found. Brig.
Gen. Frank
Helmick, the assistant commander of 101st Airborne, has commented that all
occupants of the house died during the fierce gun battle before U.S. troops
entered.
On
23 July 2003, the American command said that it had conclusively identified two
of the dead men as Saddam Hussein's sons from dental records. Because many
Iraqis were skeptical of news of the deaths, the U.S. Government released
photos of the corpses and allowed Iraq's governing council to identify the
bodies despite the U.S. objection to the publication of American corpses on
Arab television. They also announced that the informant, possibly the owner of
the house, would receive the combined $30 million reward on the pair. Qusay was
the ace of clubs in the coalition forces' most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. His
father was the ace of spades and his brother was the ace of hearts.
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A view from a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter
shows all that's left of the Uday and Qusay house in Mosul, Iraq, July 31,
2003, after Iraqi engineers were hired by the 101st Airborne Division (Air
Assault) to demolish the building during Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Army
photo by Staff Sgt. William Armstrong
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Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division and
U.S. Special Operations (Task Force 20) watch as a TOW missile
strikes the side of a house occupied by Uday and Qusay Hussein in Mosul, on 22
July 2003
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