The Hussein Family Biography
The Hussein Family Biography
Saddam Hussein needs no introduction. He was born 28th April 1937 to a poor rural family living in a village close to Tikrit. Age 20 he joined the Baath Party and fled to Egypt on a donkey after participating in a failed coup. He returned to Iraq in 1963 and was heavily involved in the 1968 coup that established the Baath Party as the dominant power in Iraq. Saddam worked his way up the ranks until he became Iraq’s absolute ruler in 1979, it was a position he clung to for almost 25 years until he was deposed by Coalition forces in December 2003. He is now awaiting trial for many crimes including mass murderer.
Sajiida Hussein is Hussein’s first wife. As is customary in Iraqi tribal society, the couple were betrothed at an early age, though they did not meet until Hussein was 21. Sajiida is Saddam’s cousin, she did once work as a teacher until she bore 5 children. She is famous for her excessive shopping sprees in Geneva and Paris.
Uday Hussein was Saddam’s eldest son. He had a fearsome reputation for violence, once beating to death his father’s valet at a reception for Arab dignitaries. He was commander of the Fedayeen militia and controlled about a dozen papers and had a monopoly on the most watched TV and radio stations. He was badly wounded in an assignation attempt in 1996 and was rarely seen in public again. Uday was killed by Coalition troops July 2003.
Qusai Hussein, Saddam’s younger son was entrusted with playing the Kurdish factions against one another, dealing with the UN weapon’s inspectors and ensuring the president’s personal security. He was killed with his brother by Coalition soldiers in July 2003
Saddam has three daughters – Rana, Raghad and Halan – the first two defected to Jordan with their husbands in 1995. Saddam’s henchmen shot their husbands but the women are believed to be alive, though they have not been seen in public since.
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