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Uday Hussein

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Uday Hussein
File:Uday hussein.jpg
BornJune 18, 1964
Tikrit, Iraq
DiedJuly 22, 2003 (age 39)
Mosul, Iraq
ChildrenNone
Parent(s)Saddam Hussein
Sajida Talfah

Uday Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti (June 18, 1964 Baghdad – July 22, 2003 Mosul), (Template:Lang-ar) was the eldest son of Saddam Hussein and his first wife, Sajida Talfah. He headed the Iraqi Olympic Committee.

He raped and murdered scores of young women across Iraq during his father's reign although, presumably due to nepotism, was never charged or tried of such crimes. He was for several years seen as the heir apparent of his father. He produced the newspaper Babel. His erratic behavior and troubled relationship with his father and brother were well publicized in the media both before and after he was killed at age 39 by U.S. military forces during a prolonged gunfight.

He was briefly married to the daughter of Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri, former vice president and deputy chairman of Saddam's Revolutionary Command Council.[1] He later divorced her due to his estranged relationships with his relatives.

Biography

Although he was of legal age for military service during the Iran-Iraq War, Uday did not volunteer to fight nor was conscripted into the Iraqi military as were most his countrymen. Uday earned a degree in engineering from Baghdad University, graduating summa cum laude and top of his class of 76 students. According to later testimony from some of his professors, Uday barely squeaked by in his classes and was granted that honor solely because he was Saddam's son. Although his status as Saddam Hussein's eldest son made him the prospective successor to his father, Uday fell out of favor with Saddam for his extravagance and recklessness. In October 1988, at a party in honor of Suzanne Mubarak, wife of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Uday murdered his father's personal valet and food taster, Kemal Hana Gegeo. Before an assemblage of horrified guests, Uday—intoxicated and in cold blood — bludgeoned Gegeo with a cane, reputedly administering the coup de grâce with an electric carving knife. Gegeo had recently introduced Saddam to a beautiful younger woman, Samira Shahbandar, who later became Saddam's second wife. Uday considered his father's relationship with Shahbandar an insult to his own mother. He furthermore feared losing succession to Gegeo, whose loyalty and fidelity to Saddam Hussein were unquestioned.[2]

As punishment for the murder, Saddam briefly imprisoned his son. The original sentence was eight years; Uday probably served half of that 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 threatened to stab a person in a restaurant.

Saddam later appointed Uday head of the Iraqi Olympic committee, and subsequently the head of one of Saddam's security organizations. In the former role he tortured athletes who failed to win. [6] [7] Uday seemed proud of his reputation and called himself Abu Sarhan, Arabic for "father of the wolf."

Uday had his bodyguard Mohammed Haroon executed in 1995 for not showing enough enthusiasm in torturing Iraqi journalists at the Iraqi Olympic Committee.

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 was treated by a Cuban medical team and eventually recovered his ability to walk, albeit with a limp. Despite repeated operations, however, a bullet remained lodged in his spine. In the wake of Uday's subsequent disabilities, Saddam gave Qusay increasing responsibility and authority, later designating him as his heir in 2000.

Uday opened accounts with Yahoo! and MSN Messenger, which caused controversy when the accounts violated U.S. trade sanctions against Iraq [8]. He was the Ace of Hearts on the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards, released in 2003.

Death

Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division and US Special Forces (Task Force 20) watch as a TOW missile strikes the side of a house occupied by Uday and Qusay Hussein in Mosul, Iraq, July 22 2003
Destroyed house of Uday and Qusay in Mosul, Iraq, July 31 2003

On July 22, 2003, Task Force 20, aided by troops of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division, had a showdown with Uday, Qusay and Qusay's fourteen-year-old son Mustapha during a raid on a home in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. 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. After approximately four hours of battle, soldiers entered the house and found four bodies, including the Hussein brothers' bodyguard.

According to news reports, many citizens of Baghdad responded to the brothers' demise with gun fire. It is unclear, however, what sentiments this gun fire intended to convey. The firing of rounds is customary at funerals in some parts of the Arab world, but is also sometimes used for celebratory purposes.

File:Uday dead.jpg
Photo of Uday's corpse

On July 23, 2003, 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 award previously offered for their apprehension. Furthermore, the owner of the villa, Nawaf al-Zeidan, who is distantly related to Saddam, was granted U.S. citizenship and permitted to depart from Iraq. Locals said Zeidan had tipped off United States forces that Saddam's sons were staying there. In what was likely an act of revenge, on June 05, 2004, Zeidan's brother Salaah al-Zeidan was killed, and three of his male relatives (including an eight-year-old boy) traveling in the same vehicle were wounded by unknown assassins.

Some criticized the Bush Administration for displaying a double standard—publishing photos of the dead brothers despite condemning Saddam Hussein for releasing images of American dead. 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 Qusay's son Mustapha Hussein.

Atrocities

Uday Hussein was infamous for being a man of depraved cruelty and wanton disregard for human life. A report released on March 20, 2003, 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 soccer 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.[3] One defector reported that jailed soccer players were forced to kick a concrete ball after failing to reach the 1994 World Cup finals. 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.[4]
  • Uday used devices of torture deriving from the Middle Ages. One of them was a 20 kg (50 lb) black iron mask in which his players were to stand up straight with in the sun for the entire day after having performed poorly in a game (the players would faint after less than an hour and be awakened by kicks of Uday's guards). Another was a pear-shaped iron tool with two handles, similar to a car jack, which he would use to tear a man's anus open.[5]
  • A former Uday body double look-alike, Latif Yahia, now living in the West, asserts that Uday was unable to perform sexually without causing pain and drawing blood from his sexual partners. Yahia asserts that Uday had raped numerous women, including a visiting Russian ballerina. Yahia has since released a book, co-authored with Karl Wendl, entitled I Was Saddam's Son.

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 magazine published an article in 2003 detailing his sexual brutality.[6] In one such instance, he ordered a young woman who was walking with her husband, where Uday said her husband was a nobody, despite him wearing a uniform showing him to be a captain in the Iraqi Army. Uday then ordered his men to grab the girl, to which her husband struck Uday in defense of his wife, and was apprended by Uday's bodyguards. The wife was raped and later murdered, and the husband was sentenced to death for "high treason against Saddam".
  • Profligate self-indulgence in an era of widespread privation. 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; 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.[7]
  • Uday's mansion was littered with sexual paraphernalia and decorated with images depicting naked women and prostitutes obtained from internet web pages.[8]
  • Usage of an Iron Maiden on persons running foul of him.[9]
  • Uday beat 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 failed to salute him.[10]
  • Uday purchased or stole approximately 1,200 luxury vehicles, including a Rolls-Royce Corniche valued at over $200,000. Uday is reported to have arrived at a polling station during a referendum on his father's regime in a pink Rolls-Royce.[11]
  • Uday Hussein owned a Lamborghini LM002 and on July 18, 2004, the USA military base near Baqubah, Iraq, used his LM002 to demonstrate the effects of a car bomb. [9]


References

  1. ^ Saddam's Inner Circle, Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri CBS News. Retrieved on November 3, 2006.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Suzanne Goldenberg (23 July 2003). "Uday: career of rape, torture and murder". UK Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2006-11-05.
  4. ^ [2]
  5. ^ [3]
  6. ^ Brian Bennett and Michael Wiesskopf (25 May 2003). "The Sum of Two Evils". TIME.com. Retrieved 2006-11-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Suzanne Goldenberg (23 July 2003). "Uday: career of rape, torture and murder". UK Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved 2006-11-05.
  8. ^ [4]
  9. ^ Aparisim Ghosh (2003). "Iron Maiden Found in Uday's Hussein's Playground". TIME.com. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ [5]
  11. ^ Arnett, Peter. "Blood and Betrayal". Playboy (April 2005). Playboy Enterprises.
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