Text 15956, 101 rader
Skriven 2005-11-12 09:52:24 av Roy Witt (1:1/22)
  Kommentar till text 15907 av Ward Dossche (2:292/854)
Ärende: Saddam Hussein's Family   (was Murd
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12 Nov 05 10:36, Ward Dossche wrote to Raymond Yates:


 >> WD> Yes, his good friends in Syria ... that is indeed a very likely
 >> WD> spot. I'm glad you at least haven't lost your sense of humor.

 >> And yet where did his daughter go to escape the invasion, and some of
 >> his top aides? Syria.

 WD> Ehr ... you mean his daughter whose husband he had killed and
 WD> actually fled from her father?

 WD> Or the other daughter whose husband he had killed and fled from her
 WD> father?

Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Saddam Hussein's family sits in exile, scattered across the Arab world
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

AMMAN: When Saddam Hussein's "throne" crumbled after the U.S.-led
coalition invaded Iraq in 2003, two of his sons were killed in the
conflict and the rest of his closely-knit family was scattered across the
Arab world. Throughout his rule, Saddam made it a point of honor to
underscore the importance of family life in his public speeches, but he
also fiercely protected his privacy from the public eye.

Even after he married three other women, Saddam never divorced his first
wife, Sajida.

Sajida was his cousin and the daughter of his uncle, Khairallah Tulfah,
who took young Saddam under his wing along with his widowed mother.

Saddam and Sajida had five children- sons Odai and Qusai who were killed
by U.S. troops in July 2003 and three daughters, Raghad, Rana and Hala.

The five are the only offsprings who officially carry Saddam's name.

Another son, Ali, born of his marriage with Samira Shahbandar in 1982, had
always been considered a taboo topic and journalists who dared mention his
name faced death threats.

Saddam had fallen madly in love with Samira and forced her to divorce her
husband, the then director of Iraqi Airways, Noureddine Safi.

Ali, now 22, fled Iraq with his mother following the 2003 invasion. They
went first to Lebanon before settling in Canada.

As the U.S.-led attack grew imminent, Saddam ordered  his family members
to safe havens outside Iraq and gave them money to help them start a new
life.

Sajida, her three daughters and 11 grandchildren initially left for Syria
but on July 31, 2003, a week after their brothers Odai and Qusai were
killed, Raghad and Rana and their nine children sped to Jordan.

In August 1995, Jordan had provided safe haven to the two sisters, their
children and husbands, General Hussein Kamel Hassan and his brother
Colonel Saddam Hassan, as well as several other family members.

They had defected after the general was sacked as industry minister. It
was the first defection by members of the Iraqi president's family, and
Iraqi opposition leaders said it left Saddam weakened and isolated.

Saddam promised amnesties and lured the Hassan brothers back home, along
with their father and other Kamel family members. They were subsequently
killed on Saddam's orders in February 1996.

Jamal Kamel, the only one to survive Saddam's wrath, helped his
sisters-in-law, nephews and nieces settle in Jordan.

"Jordan asked for a green light from the Americans. They did not have any
objections because, after all, Saddam's daughters had nothing to do with
the crimes committed by their father," he said.

But despite the murder of their husbands, Raghad and Rana have steadfastly
refused to criticize their father in public.

After Saddam's arrest, Raghad, who has been often nicknamed "little
Saddam," began organizing his defense.

Sajida and her third daughter Hala, whose husband Jamal Mustafa al-Tikriti
is also detained by U.S. troops, have settled in Qatar. Raghad and Rana
often visit them there.

Raghad, 36, and Rana, 34, bought homes in Jordan where their children go
to school. They  keep a low profile after having been urged by the
Jordanian authorities to avoid politicking.

Raghad has three sons, Ali, Saddam and Wahej, as well as two daughters,
Haris and Banan. Rana is the mother of three sons, Ahmad, Saad and
Hussein, and a daughter named Nabea.

Raghad's son Ali, 18, is said to be Saddam's favorite grandchild. Recently
he received birthday wishes from Saddam in a message sent through the
International Committee of the Red Cross. - AFP



Roy
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