Uday Hussein

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Uday Hussein
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Uday Hussein

Uday Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti (June 18, 1964 Baghdad – July 22, 2003 Mosul), (Arabic: عُدي صدّام حُسين‎) was the eldest son of Saddam Hussein and his first wife, Sajida Talfah. He was for several years seen as the heir apparent of his father. He produced the newspaper Babel as well as the youth radio station Voice of Iraq (which ran American pop songs). 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 following the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

He was briefly married to the daughter of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, former vice president and deputy chairman of Saddam's Revolutionary Command Council.[1]

Contents

[edit] Biography

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. He was by all accounts a sadist and pervert par excellence. 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] Mubarak later described Uday as a "psychopath".

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.

Also in 1988, Uday was involved in the illicit purchase of enriched uranium from South Africa.[3]

Saddam later appointed Uday head of the Iraqi Olympic committee. In this role he was responsible for the torture of athletes and later, the head of one of Saddam's security organizations. Uday seemed proud of his reputation and called himself Abu Sarhan, Arabic for "father of the wolf."

Uday sustained permanent injuries during an assassination attempt possibly instigated by his younger brother Qusay 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.

[edit] Death

Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division and US Special Forces (Task Force 20) watch as a TOW missile strikes the side of a house of Uday and Qusay Hussein in Mosul, Iraq, July 22, 2003
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Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division and US Special Forces (Task Force 20) watch as a TOW missile strikes the side of a house of Uday and Qusay Hussein in Mosul, Iraq, July 22, 2003
Destroyed house of Uday and Qusay in Mosul, Iraq, July 31, 2003
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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, killed 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" gunship, surrounded and fired upon the house. After approximately four hours of battle, soldiers entered the house and found four dead, among them 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. Acclaim for the deaths of Uday and Qusay was not universal; one correspondent for Al Jazeera termed the operation a "crime" carried out "in cold blood."

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 house in which the brothers were killed) would receive the combined $30 million award previously offered for their apprehension. Furthermore, the owner of the house, whose identity was never released, was granted U.S. citizenship and permitted to depart from Iraq. In what was likely an act of revenge, his brother was later killed in 2004 by unknown assassins[citation needed].

The following day, pictures of the brothers' corpses were released to the press, apparently to combat widespread rumors that the episode had been a hoax. 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 answered these criticisms by pointing out that these men were no ordinary combatants and expressing hope that confirmation of the deaths would bring "closure" to the Iraqi people.

Corpse reputed to be of Uday Hussein. Released: July 24, 2003
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Corpse reputed to be of Uday Hussein. Released: July 24, 2003

Uday was buried in a cemetery near Tikrit alongside Qusay and the latter's son. He had been the Ace of Hearts on the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards.

[edit] Allegations of 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.[4] 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.[5]
  • A former member of the French foreign ministry claimed that Uday and his bodyguards broke into the hotel room of a French couple and forced them at gunpoint to perform sex acts while Uday videotaped them for later viewing. [citation needed]
  • A former Uday body double look-alike, Latif Yahia, now living in the West, claimed that Uday was unable to perform sexually without causing pain and drawing blood from his sexual partners. Yahia said 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.
  • Uday purchased or stole approximately 1,200 luxury automobiles, 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. [citation needed]

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, which included the use of acid. Uday allegedly murdered many of the women he had raped.[6]
  • Profligate self-indulgence in an era of widespread privation caused by years of UN-imposed economic sanctions. 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. Curiously, an HIV testing kit was also found among his personal effects.[7]
  • Blatant obsession with sex in a society influenced by modest Islamic cultural norms. 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 afoul 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]

[edit] Trivia

  • Uday Hussein owned a Lamborghini LM002 and on July 18, 2004, the USA military base near Baqubah, Iraq used his LM002 to simulate the effects of a VBIED.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Saddam's Inner Circle, Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri CBS News. Retrieved on Nov 3, 2006.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Iraq 'sought African uranium'. BBC News (24 September, 2002). Retrieved on 2006-11-05.
  4. ^ Suzanne Goldenberg (23 July 2003). Uday: career of rape, torture and murder. UK Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2006-11-05.
  5. ^ [2]
  6. ^ Brian Bennett and Michael Wiesskopf (25 May 2003). The Sum of Two Evils. TIME.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-05.
  7. ^ Suzanne Goldenberg (23 July 2003). Uday: career of rape, torture and murder. UK Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2006-11-05.
  8. ^ [3]
  9. ^ Aparisim Ghosh (2003). Iron Maiden Found in Uday's Hussein's Playground. TIME.com. Retrieved on February 7, 2006.
  10. ^ [4]

[edit] External links

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