Saddam Hussein

Saddām Hussein ʻAbd al-Majīd al-Tikrīt, sometimes spelled Husayn or Hussain; (Arabic صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي; born April 28, 1937 {{fn|1}}) was President of Iraq from 1979 until his removal and capture during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Personal

Saddam has been married three times. His first marriage was to his first cousin Sajida Talfah, a former teacher, in 1963. This union with the eldest daughter of Khairallah Talfah, Saddam's uncle and surrogate, produced two sons (Uday Saddam Hussein and Qusay Hussein) and three daughters, Rana, Raghad and Hala. Sajida was put under house arrest in early 1997, along with daughters Raghad and Rana, because they were suspected of being involved in an attempted assassination of Uday on December 12, 1996. General Adnan Khairallah Tuffah, who was Sajida's brother and Saddam Hussein's boyhood friend, was allegedly executed because of his growing popularity.

Related Topics:
Sajida Talfah - 1963 - Surrogate - Uday Saddam Hussein - Qusay Hussein - Rana - Raghad - Hala - 1997 - Assassination - December 12 - 1996 - Adnan Khairallah Tuffah

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Saddam Hussein also married two other women: Samira Shahbandar, whom he married in 1986 after forcing her husband to divorce her (she is rumored to be his favorite wife), and Nidal al-Hamdani, the general manager of the Solar Energy Research Center in the Council of Scientific Research, whose husband apparently was also persuaded to divorce his wife. There apparently have been no political issues from these latter two marriages. Saddam has a son, Ali, by Samira.

Related Topics:
Samira Shahbandar - 1986 - Nidal al-Hamdani - Ali

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In August 1995, Rana and her husband Hussein Kamel al Majid and Raghad and her husband, Saddam Kamel al-Majid, defected to Jordan, taking their children with them. They returned to Iraq when they received assurances that Saddam Hussein would pardon them. Within three days of their return in February 1996, both of the Majid brothers were executed.

Related Topics:
1995 - Hussein Kamel - Saddam Kamel al-Majid - Jordan - 1996

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Saddam's daughter Hala is married to Jamal Mustafa, the deputy head of Iraq's Tribal Affairs Office. Neither has been known to be involved in politics. Another cousin was Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known in the United States as "Chemical Ali," who was accused of ordering the use of poison gas in 1988. Ali is now in U.S. custody.

Related Topics:
Ali Hassan al-Majid - 1988

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As mentioned above, Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay were killed in July 2003 in an engagement with U.S. forces.

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In August 2003 Saddam's daughters Raghad and Rana received sanctuary in Amman, Jordan, where they are staying with their nine children. That month, they spoke with CNN and the Arab satellite station Al-Arabiya in Amman. When asked about her father, Raghad told CNN, "He was a very good father, loving, has a big heart." Asked if she wanted to give a message to her father, she said: "I love you and I miss you." Her sister Rana also remarked, "He had so many feelings and he was very tender with all of us." {{fn|13}}

Related Topics:
Amman - Jordan - CNN - Al-Arabiya

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In 2005 a GQ interview http://men.style.com/gq/fashion/landing?id=content_2544 of four American National Guardsmen from PA whose job was to guard Saddam after his capture quoted Saddam as saying, "Reagan and me, good.... The Cleeenton, he's okay. The Bush father, son, no good." According to the soldiers Reagan was a favorite topic of Saddam's. Saddam told them about how Reagan sold him "planes and helicopters" and "basically funded his war against Iran." Saddam told them that he "wish things were like when Ronald Reagan was still president."

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In the same interview, the guards say that Saddam has a tattoo on his right arm. Tattoos are forbidden under traditional Islamic law.

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