, Mosul) is the eldest son of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Former head of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, the Iraqi Journalists Union and the Iraqi Football Association, former General Secretary of the Iraqi Students' Union and the Iraqi Youth Union. He owned the Babil newspaper and the Voice of Iraq radio. Commander-in-Chief of the armed formation "Fedayeen Saddam" and a member of the Jerusalem Liberation Army. Member of Parliament and Doctor of Political Science. Killed July 22, 2003.
Saddam Hussein personally investigated the case, in which, much to the displeasure of his wife, the same Mrs. Shahbandar was involved. After the public murder, Uday's mother witnessed an unpleasant quarrel between his father and her eldest son - an enraged Saddam put Uday in prison, intending to try him as a murderer and even intended to execute him. She called King Hussein of Jordan asking him to help reconcile the relatives. The king immediately flew to Baghdad, where he managed to settle the conflict, mainly due to the fact that he managed to convince Saddam to punish his eldest son and thus restore justice.
The wedding of Uday and his wife (cousin) Saji. The marriage was unsuccessful. Due to the cruelty and beatings of Udeya, Saja was forced to return to her parents.
The most scandalous case occurred in Baghdad with the Italian model Barbara Di Palma in April 2002. She was invited to Iraq for a cultural event - to participate in a fashion show, but Saddam's son began to molest her and her girlfriend, persuading them to have sex. The fashion model's translator was intimidated by Hussein's son's entourage and claimed that they would be in serious trouble if they did not sleep with Uday.
The eldest son of the president, although he remained unpunished, was occasionally punished by his father. One day, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered that his son Uday be punished with stick blows. The president's son was subjected to such a severe punishment "for obscene offers to foreign women" to stay with him. It is noteworthy that the beatings were inflicted on the legs of Uday, who, after the attempt on his life, moved in a wheelchair for a long time (because of this, the diplomats called the son of the President of Iraq “Lame” among themselves). Saddam was pissed off when Uday, after swimming in the pool of Baghdad's best hotel, the Rashid, invited the wife of the Danish charge d'affaires to spend the night together. .
Saddam Hussein's son is also known to have visited his many mistresses in a tank. In all hotels in Baghdad, Uday's henchmen were always on duty, picking up women for him. Often there were pop stars among them. One noteworthy detail: all of Uday's "close friends" (both tourists and pop stars) invariably left him, gifted with the same luxurious silver bracelets.
After the overthrow of Hussein's regime, a secret women's prison was found in Baghdad, which belonged to the eldest son of the former Iraqi president. Girls were imprisoned in it, who opposed Udey in his harassment. 11 female prisoners were rescued from prison - four died in custody from hunger and thirst.
Uday himself lived in the presidential palace in Baghdad, there was another house nearby for his harem. American soldiers found in these houses mountains of pornographic photographs downloaded from the Internet, and all the walls were hung with paintings depicting naked women. Among them were even photographs of the president's daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush, taken in the gym. In the black book - hundreds of female names. There were also photographs of the final grades of schools. At the same time, the soldiers found Cuban cigars with his name on the packaging in the palace, a large amount of alcoholic beverages, a gold-plated Kalashnikov assault rifle, six suitcases with heroin worth 625 thousand pounds (about a million dollars), expensive watches and photos of other women in gyms.
Uday Hussein was obsessed with gold jewelry and precious stones. So, once he bought a diamond worth 450 thousand dollars in Saudi Arabia, which he liked on one of the sites. And one of the Arab singers, who visited Baghdad with concerts, said that Uday wore gold lining with diamonds on his nails.
Uday Hussein is also known as a great collector. Thus, the eldest son of the former leader of Iraq over the past 12 years has imported 1.5 thousand cars into the country for himself. He has amassed one of the most unusual collections of prestige cars in the world. Uday owned 18 Rolls-Royce cars, including Corniches, Silver Wraiths, Silver Spirits and Silver Shadows - each costing up to £250,000 in today's prices. Also in the collection were 3 Bentleys, at least 22 Mercedes-Benzes, 3 Jaguars, a Lamborghini Diablo VT worth over £180,000, 4 Bugatti, 3 Aston Martins, 4 Cadillacs, several Ferraris (including the 348 Barchetta), half a dozen Porsches, Lotus Esprit, McLaren, Maserati, dozens of Dodges and Toyotas, as well as the Mini Cooper and Land Rover Discovery that Uday used while hunting. In January 2001, Uday brought a convertible Bentley Azure from Jordan that cost over £230,000. Some of Uday's cars were heavily modified. For example, one of the Mercedes had 150 changes, and one of the Rolls-Royce was redesigned to look like a Mercedes in the back. Interiors of two Mercedes were painted with war scenes. The other car could quickly change color to confuse the chase. Some cars, including a Rolls-Royce, were stolen in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion, Uday shipped them by ferry to Baghdad.
Uday was forced to hide many of his cars in secret garages and warehouses because his father disapproved of such spending. One day, after a family row in October 1995, Saddam ordered the destruction of 50 Uday cars that were in an underground parking lot in the presidential palace in Baghdad.
After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the Baghdad police found 360 cars in Uday's personal underground garage. Some of them were destroyed or damaged during the bombing of Baghdad, the rest were stolen during the pogroms and looting that began after the fall of Baghdad. Several cars were returned. The Baghdad police held an auction selling the cars of Saddam's eldest son.
"Fedayeen Saddam" - volunteer militia. Translated from Arabic "fedayin" - "sacrificing himself." According to various estimates, the number of Fedayeen in Iraq ranged from 18,000 to 40,000. This organization was created by Uday in 1995, and became its commander in chief. He paid them the equivalent of $100 per month (civil servants received $3), provided them with land, free medical care, and additional food rations.
Uday's idea to create an elite personal army from this militia failed: in September 1996, a scandal erupted - Saddam Hussein suddenly found out that high-tech military equipment and heavy equipment were strangely flowing from the Republican Guard to the fedayeen. For some time, Saddam removed Uday from the leadership of the fedayeen, passing their rule to his youngest son, but soon the elder Hussein regained leadership.
Fedayeen fulfilled all the whims of their commander: all over the country they caught beautiful girls for him, cut out the tongues of opponents of the regime and intimidated the population. In 1998, in the Shiite city of Karbala, black-robed fedayeen, wearing face-covering knitted black helmets, rounded up people whom they suspected of a failed assassination attempt on Izzat Ibrahim, Hussein's deputy in the Revolutionary Command Council. Hundreds of people were thrown into prison and tortured. This armed group took an active part in the executions of prostitutes, led by Uday Hussein. The end of "Fedayeen Saddam" came with the death of Uday and the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.
According to the London-based weekly The Observer, in 1985 Uday imported a large shipment of cattle by sea from India without the necessary medical papers. And although all animals were subject to destruction due to a specific disease, he insisted on receiving large monetary compensation. Uday created a whole network of commercial structures, including a national meat company, an ice cream factory, and a food retail system. In 1988, Uday made over $20 million in profits from a single deal. He forced the central bank to sell him foreign currency at the official rate, and then deftly exchanged it on the black market. He taxed 90% of all companies operating in Iraq, forcing them to pay 3% of the profits. Uday developed a tax for exported goods: for example, from each ton of dates, 25 dollars went into his pocket, for a large box of cigarettes - from 5 to 25 dollars, depending on the variety.
Most of his income came from oil smuggling and the cigarette trade. The latter type of business has become extremely profitable and attractive due to international sanctions against Iraq. The smuggling of gold and jewelry was carried out through the Iraqi Olympic Committee, which also belonged to the eldest son of the Iraqi president.
The next day, Arab media reported that Saddam Hussein had his eldest son arrested and sent under guard to the Tartar presidential complex. The reason for the arrest was a secret attempt by Uday Hussein to negotiate with the Jordanians about the flight to Amman. March 31, for the first time since the start of the war, the world saw a meeting of the military command, which was chaired by Saddam Hussein - it was attended by Udey and his younger brother Kusey. A week later, on April 6, Iraqi television aired the live Uday video for the last time. After the overthrow of the Saddam regime, Uday disappeared with his father, brother and a number of other political figures in Iraq. For him, as well as for many hiding, the hunt began.
The house of Uday and Qusay Hussein in Mosul, destroyed by the US military
Those hiding in the villa barricaded themselves inside and put up fierce resistance. Judging by the footage that the Al-Arabiya TV channel managed to shoot, those hiding in the villa were not preparing for defense at all: chocolates were scattered on the table, the defenders were in slippers.
The operation lasted six hours. The assault itself began with an offer to surrender, but no response was received. When the commandos approached the house, they came under grenades and automatic fire - they were shot at by people who had barricaded themselves in a room on the top floor of the mansion. Four soldiers were wounded - three on the stairs and one in front of the house. The Americans returned fire. After some time, they tried to enter the building again, but again came under fire and withdrew. After that, American soldiers deployed Hummers with anti-tank missiles and fired 10 missiles at the house. As a result of this shelling, Uday, his brother Kusey and their guard were killed. The Americans loaded the bodies of Uday and Qusay on a helicopter and took them from Mosul to Baghdad airport, where Hussein's previously arrested associates were brought for identification. Uday, in particular, was recognized by the scar on his leg left from the assassination attempt.
Fearing that the burial place of Saddam's sons could become a center of pilgrimage and a symbol of resistance, the American authorities for a long time did not give out the bodies of the dead to the relatives. Only two weeks later, contrary to all traditions, the remains were buried. On the morning of August 2, at the cemetery in the village of Avja (near the city of Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein), Udey and Kusey were buried. All graves were covered with the Iraqi national flag. On the eve of the funeral, the authorities issued an order that the number of funeral participants should not exceed 150 people.
Shortly after receiving information about the death of the sons of Saddam Hussein, indiscriminate shooting began in different parts of the Iraqi capital using machine guns and machine guns. Thus, the residents of the Iraqi capital expressed their joy over this event. On the opposite side, the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera showed a videotape where unknown masked militants announced that they would take revenge not only on American soldiers in Iraq, but also on countries that support the United States, such as Great Britain and Israel. " If the news about the death of Uday and Kusei is confirmed, we will arrange a real hell for the Americans", - said one of the militants. -« Even unborn babies in their mothers' wombs will pay the price for Uday and Qusay... The US, UK and Israel will never feel safe as we will have our operations inside these countries and also in Iraq". According to them, "everything Iraqis are ready to resist the occupation and avenge the murder of the sons of Saddam Hussein, thereby making Americans regret their deeds».
No one knows Saddam Hussein's own reaction to the death of his sons, as he never spoke about them again. There is only an audio recording of the address of a man whose voice resembles Saddam: “ I mourn for you, Uday and Kusey. You fought to the very end. You are the honor of the nation.", - said in this entry. The person speaking on the tape stated that both sons of the former Iraqi president died in the name of jihad: " They are martyrs who died in the name of a holy war. Every true Muslim would only wish for such a death.". The entry ended with the slogan: America will be defeated". Two years after Saddam Hussein's arrest, his former guards gave an interview to the American magazine GQ about the former leader's time in prison. The former president told them a story about how he hired prostitutes for his eldest son Uday during his wedding. They, in particular, also said that Hussein never mentioned his dead sons. He only said once that he misses them very much.
USA Arab world
The official reaction of the Arab countries to the death of Hussein's sons was very restrained. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi commented on the news: it would be enough just to surround Uday and Kusey, capture them and submit the case to the court", since such a cruel destruction of them" simply unacceptable in today's civilized society».
A wave of indignation swept across the Middle East when photographs of the murdered Uday and Qusay were released. In addition, their faces and bodies were put on public display. This is fundamentally contrary to Muslim traditions.
Egyptian media stated that "... the truth is that Saddam Hussein, his sons and entourage, and, finally, his regime itself were deeply alien to the Iraqi people ... That is why it is much more important now to restore peace and security in Iraq itself…». « If Saddam's sons are truly dead, then the former Iraqi leader's ambitious plans to triumphantly return to the country and continue to rule it will most likely disappear, or at least decrease ... No Iraqis want to live again under the regime of the harsh dictatorship of the Ba'ath Party “... Dictatorship is not welcomed or supported in any civilized country in the world”, - commented the representative office of another Egyptian news agency Al-Ahrab.
In January 2011, the drama film The Devil's Double directed by Lee Tamahori was released. The film's budget was just over $19 million. The film is based on real events based on the biography book of Latif Yahia, Uday Hussein's doppelgänger. The film is replete with facts that took place and are widely covered by the press.
Rumors of death
Father: Hussein Abd al-Majid Mother: Sabha Tulfah al-Mussalat Uncle and father-in-law: Khairallah Tulfah
Wives: Sajida Tulfah, Samira Shahbandar, Nidal al-Hamdani, Iman Huweish
Sons: Uday Hussein, Qusay Hussain and Ali Hussain Daughters: Rana Hussain, Ragad Hussain and Khala Hussain
Uday Hussein is one of the sons of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. In his father's government, he served as chairman of the union of journalists, the Iraqi Olympic Committee and the local football association. Led the Union of Iraqi Youth. He was considered a media tycoon, owning the Voice of Iraq radio station and the Babil newspaper. He was part of the Jerusalem Liberation Army, an armed group known as the Fedayeen Saddam. In 2003 he was killed.
Uday Hussein was born in Tikrit in 1964. At 20, he graduated from an engineering college in Iraq. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed chairman of the Iraqi Olympic Committee and rector of Saddam University. Udey Hussein's career developed very rapidly.
In 1995, he began to lead volunteer police units, which were known in the country under the name "Fedayin Saddam", which can be translated as "sacrificing themselves for Saddam." According to various experts, the number of representatives of these units is from 20 to 40 thousand people throughout the country. They received $100 a month, land, extra food rations, and free medical care.
In 1991, when Udey Hussein's double went around the troops, members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party staged a terrorist attack at one of the roadblocks. Dressed in the uniform of the Iraqi army, they fired from a light machine gun on a car with a double and threw grenades at it.
As a result, two guards were killed, the driver was wounded in the stomach, the double of Saddam Hussein's son himself injured his legs with grenade fragments and suffered a through wound in his arm.
Uday himself became the target of an assassination attempt. In December 1996, unidentified persons fired at his car with a pistol and machine gun on the university campus. The guards managed to kill one of the attackers with return fire. The bodyguard of Udey Hussein and a bystander were killed.
The rector himself received 8 gunshot wounds in the leg and left side of the body. One of the bullets tangentially wounded him in the groin, due to which he temporarily lost his reproductive function, later managing to restore it, but not completely. Due to a bullet that hit the spine, Saddam Hussein's son was paralyzed in his legs, and soon he lost the ability to move independently.
Only as a result of numerous operations he was able to be put on his feet, he was able to walk with the help of a cane. According to experts, the severe consequences for his health after this assassination put an end to Uday's chances to take the throne after the death of his father. After that, everyone considered his younger brother Kusey to be the actual heir to the throne.
In 2000, Uday Hussein, whose biography is given in this article, was elected a member of the Iraqi parliament. At the same time, the number of dissatisfied people in the country grew.
In 2003, he survived another assassination attempt. A group of armed men broke into the equestrian club where he was and opened fire to kill. During a fierce firefight, three of Uday's guards were killed, and the attackers managed to escape.
In Iraq, Uday Hussein was known as an educated man. He managed to defend his doctoral dissertation in political science at Saddam University. It was devoted to the problems of international relations in the XX century. In particular, in it he predicted the imminent and imminent collapse of America.
The situation in Iraq worsened in March 2003, when US President George W. Bush issued an ultimatum to Saddam, demanding that he resign and leave the country with his sons, Udey and Qusay Hussein.
In response, Uday spoke on central television, saying that it was Bush who should resign after such statements. Otherwise, he promised to actively resist American troops if they show up in Iraq.
He also warned that in the event of an attack by the United States of America on Iraq, the boundaries of the war would automatically expand, as some Islamic states would come out on the side of Hussein. He promised that the mothers and wives of those who went to fight in Iraq would weep.
The next day, his father's unexpected reaction followed, which showed that this statement was not agreed with the president. Saddam ordered the arrest of his son, under armed guard he was taken to the Tartar presidential complex.
As it turned out later, the reason for the arrest was Uday's attempt behind his father's back to negotiate with the leadership of Jordan about fleeing to Amman. True, already on March 31, 2003, shortly after the start of the bombing by America of Baghdad, footage of the meeting of the military command was circulated. It was attended by Uday Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti, as his full name sounds, his younger brother Qusay, and Saddam himself presided. A week later, fresh footage of Uday appeared on Iraqi television.
After Hussein's regime was overthrown, Uday disappeared from Iraq along with his father, younger brother and a number of close associates. America has declared a hunt for them.
In 2003, it became known that they were hiding in a mansion in Mosul. Their whereabouts were given away by an informant, an ethnic Kurd, who received $30 million for this.
Immediately after this, a tactical group, part of a secret military unit of the American intelligence services, was raised on urgent alarm. It included CIA officers, Navy fighters and the Delta Special Forces. American paratroopers also took part in the special operation.
Representatives of the ousted leadership of Iraq, who were hiding in the villa, put up fierce resistance. In the footage that the Al-Arabiya TV channel managed to shoot, the people who were in the villa were not ready for defense, the attackers took them by surprise. In particular, chocolates were scattered on the dining table, many of the defenders were at that moment in slippers.
The special operation of the American units took six hours. Immediately before the storming of the villa, all the people there were asked to surrender.
Having received no answer, the special forces advanced to the house, but came under fire from the top floor. Four soldiers were wounded. The US military returned fire.
After some time, they made a second hitch to get into the building, but again unsuccessful. After that, ten anti-tank missiles were fired at the mansion. During this shelling, Uday and his brother and their guards were killed. Their bodies were loaded onto a helicopter and sent to Baghdad, where the previously arrested former President Saddam was brought for identification. As you know, he recognized his eldest son by the scar on his leg left after the assassination attempt.
To prevent the burial place of Saddam's sons from becoming a center for pilgrims and their supporters in the future, the American authorities for a long time refused to give the bodies of their sons to relatives. The remains were buried only two weeks later, in violation of all the traditions that exist in the Muslim world.
The funeral of the brothers took place on August 2 near their hometown of Tikrit, in the town of Avja. The graves were covered with the Iraqi national flag. By order of the authorities, given the day before, the number of participants in the funeral could not exceed 150 people.
The death of Uday Hussein caused a mixed reaction around the world. The Qatari TV channel Al-Jazeera aired an appeal by unknown militants who promised to avenge the death of Saddam's sons.
The American administration welcomed the successful completion of the special operation. Russia knows about the reaction of the leader of the LDPR party, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who was personally acquainted with Saddam. After the death of his sons, he sent a letter of condolences to the ex-president of Iraq.
The reaction of the Arab countries was extremely restrained. The leader of Libya said that the destruction of the brothers was an unnecessary measure, it would be enough to surround them and take them prisoner.
A wave of indignation arose in the Middle East when photographs of the dead sons of Hussein were published. In addition, this was done in violation of Muslim traditions: their bodies and faces were put on public display.
In 2011, Lee Tamahori's drama called "Devil's Double" was released, which told about this operation of the American special services and the biography of Saddam's son himself.
The picture was based on the biographical book of Latif Yahia, who was the counterpart of Uday, the so-called "bullet catcher".
According to the plot of this picture, it all starts with the fact that Uday, following the example of his father, finds a double for himself. He becomes his classmate Latifa, who is taken away from the front, declaring dead. He does not agree to become a copy of the son of the Iraqi dictator, but is forced to do so, as Uday's people threaten to massacre his family. He is allowed to live in the house of Saddam's son, to wear his clothes, but not to use his women.
According to the creators of the picture, it was Latif who participated in the assassination attempt on Uday on the territory of the university city, after which he was completely paralyzed for a while. Saddam's son himself appears as a villain who regularly raids Baghdad in search of victims for his sexual pleasures. For example, in the film, he rapes a schoolgirl, drugs her and throws the corpse into a landfill, and another time he abused the bride at her wedding, after which she was forced to commit suicide.
The role of Uday and Latif Yahia is played by British actor Dominic Edward Cooper. His first successful role was in Tom Vaughn's melodramatic comedy Hit the Top Ten, for which he received the Empire Award for Best Debut. Also among his roles should be noted the dramatic comedy by Nicholas Hytner "History Lovers", the melodrama by Lone Scherfig "Education of the Senses", the dramatic biography of Simon Curtis "7 Days and Nights with Marilyn".
Uday Saddam Hussein at-Tikriti(June 18, 1964, Tikrit - July 22, 2003, Mosul) - the eldest son of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. He has served as the head of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, the Iraqi Union of Journalists and the Iraqi Football Association, and the Secretary General of the Union of Iraqi Students and the Union of Iraqi Youth. He owned the Babil newspaper and the Voice of Iraq radio. Commander-in-Chief of the armed formation "Fedayeen Saddam" and a member of the Jerusalem Liberation Army. Member of Parliament and Doctor of Political Science. Killed July 22, 2003.
After graduating from an engineering college in 1984 with high marks, Uday became rector of Saddam University and chairman of the Iraqi Olympic Committee.
In 1995, he created and became the commander-in-chief of the volunteer militia - Fedayeen Saddam. Translated from Arabic, “fedayin” means “self-sacrificing”. According to various estimates, the number of Fedayeen in Iraq ranged from 18,000 to 40,000. He paid them the equivalent of $100 per month (civil servants received $3), provided them with land, free medical care, and additional food rations.
In 1991, when a double of Udey Hussein was touring the troops, at one of the checkpoints, members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, dressed in military uniforms of the Iraqi army, fired at a car with a double from a light machine gun, and also threw two grenades at it. As a result, two guards of Uday's double were killed, the driver was wounded in the stomach, and the double received a through wound in the arm and tangential wounds to both legs with grenade fragments.
On December 12, 1996, an assassination attempt was made on Uday. While walking around the university campus, two unidentified assailants fired at Uday's red armored Porsche with a submachine gun and a pistol. One of the attackers was killed by return fire from the guards, the second managed to escape. Also killed was one of Uday's bodyguards and a bystander who came under fire. 8 bullets hit the left side of the torso and leg. One of the bullets tangentially wounded Uday in the groin, resulting in a temporary loss of reproductive function, later it was only partially restored. One of the wounds - in the spine caused paralysis of the lower extremities, and as a result he was paralyzed. Subsequently, after several operations, Saddam's eldest son was able to walk only with a cane. The assassination attempt and illness finally crossed out Uday's chances for succession to the throne: after that, Saddam's youngest son, Kusey, became the obvious favorite.
On March 8, 2003, the third attempt was made. On the evening of that day, a group of armed men broke into an equestrian club in the Al Jadiriyya area and opened fire on Oudey. A fierce firefight ensued, as a result of which 3 guards were killed. The attackers managed to escape.
In March 2000, Uday was elected as a member of the Iraqi Parliament.
In February 2002, Uday was awarded the title of professor of political science at Baghdad's Saddam University for a 300-page doctoral dissertation on international relations in the 21st century. In this work, Uday predicted the imminent collapse of the United States.
Before the start of the war, on March 18, George W. Bush issued an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein demanding that he resign and leave the country with his sons. In response to this, Uday said on television that in fact the proposal should sound completely different: that President Bush should "resign." The son of the president of Iraq called the figure of the American president "unstable" and advised him to leave the White House. Otherwise, "the bloodiest battle" will be prepared for the American troops in Iraq. Uday Hussein warned the United States that an attack on Iraq would expand the scope of the war some Islamic countries are waging against the United States. According to Uday, “the wives and mothers of those who attack us will weep and their tears will never end… They will lose faith that there is at least one safe place for them, both in Iraq and in everything else.” the world."
The next day, Arab media reported that Saddam Hussein had his eldest son arrested and sent under guard to the Tartar presidential complex. The reason for the arrest was a secret attempt by Uday Hussein to negotiate with the Jordanians about the flight to Amman. On March 31, for the first time since the start of the war, the world saw a meeting of the military command, which was chaired by Saddam Hussein - Uday and his younger brother Kusei took part in it. A week later, on April 6, Iraqi television aired a live Uday video for the last time. After the overthrow of the Saddam regime, Uday disappeared with his father, brother and a number of other political figures in Iraq. For him, as well as for many hiding, the hunt began.
unwanted son
According to the official version, Hussein was born on April 28, 1937. But researchers believe that this date is not true, and the present time of his birth is not known. The elder brother of the future dictator died of cancer at the age of 12.
Saddam's mother was pregnant at the time. Because of the loss, she became depressed, tried to terminate the pregnancy and lay hands on herself. But the future dictator still came into the world. But the mother did not want to see the newborn child, so his maternal uncle took him to be raised. In fact, he saved Saddam's life. A relative raised Hussein harshly, was very demanding of him, constantly instilled the idea of becoming a new Saladin - a powerful medieval ruler of the Middle East, a thunderstorm of the crusaders.
Family ties
Saddam's first wife was his cousin, Sajid's cousin. From her, the dictator had five children: the sons of Uday and Kusey, as well as the daughters of Ragad, Rana and Khalu. However, they were engaged when Saddam was still five years old, and Sajida was barely seven. The couple got married in Cairo, and Saddam personally planted a bush of elite white roses, which he named after his wife.
The second marriage was very scandalous and received wide publicity even outside of Iraq. In 1988, Hussein, already president, met the wife of the president of Iraq Airways. Saddam urged his husband to divorce. He seemed to agree, but the cousin of the dictator Adnan Khairallah, who at that time held the post of Minister of Defense, began to object to the marriage. Soon he died in a plane crash under mysterious circumstances. Many believe that Saddam had a hand in his death.
"Golden" dictator
Hussein was one of the richest men in the Middle East. He had a truly royal hobby - the construction of luxurious palaces. According to official figures, the dictator had 28 residences and villas, but eyewitnesses say that there were much more - 80, or even 100.
So, the palace "Makar-et-Tartar" ("Green Palace") was built on the shores of Lake Tartar in 1993, its total area is 6.5 square kilometers. More than 50 million dollars were spent on its construction from the treasury. The residence was striking in its splendor: it had 45 bedrooms, and a picturesque view of the lake opened from the southern windows. In addition, the "Green Palace" had underground bunkers and even underground laboratories. It is noteworthy that the dictator did not spend the night in the same palace for more than two days.
There were rumors that the dictator had mountains of treasures, some of which he managed to hide after being overthrown in 2003. There is a version that one of the planes with a huge amount of cash that belonged to Saddam is standing at one of the Moscow airports. However, so far, allegedly, no one has dared to come for wealth.
Difficult child
Saddam's eldest son, Uday, gave his father a lot of trouble. In Iraq and beyond, there were constant rumors about his sexual adventures. Once he offered to have fun with the wife of the Danish ambassador. Such unbridled behavior of the offspring greatly angered the dictator, who summoned his son to him and severely beat him with a cane. After that, the "golden boy" moved around in a wheelchair for a month, with one of his broken legs never fully healed, for which he received the nickname "lame".
faith and blood
One of the mosques houses the Koran, which was written with the blood of Hussein. The holy book was demonstrated to the public in 2000. For the manufacture of special ink, 27 liters of blood, which the dictator donated, were used. However, experts are sure that this is an unrealistic figure for one person at a time.
After the overthrow of Saddam, religious leaders could not decide what to do with this Koran. On the one hand, it is a sacred book, which is forbidden to be destroyed. On the other hand, it is forbidden to write the Koran with blood; this act was immediately condemned by Muslims in many countries.
"Superior Personality"
Almost 300,000 people went missing during the years of Hussein's rule, according to Human Rights Watch. CIA psychologist Gerald Post assessed Saddam's personality as follows: not paranoid and not crazy, but an extremely dangerous person, a pronounced narcissist, devoid of a sense of compassion for others. During the reign of Hussein, 17 ministers were sentenced to death, he executed two of his own sons-in-law. At the same time, after 1990, the former ruler of Iraq did not leave the country. Perhaps he was afraid of attempts on his life.
The fall
Saddam's government fell on April 17, 2003, when the remnants of the elite Medina Division surrendered under pressure from the Americans and their allies. The interventionists established control over the entire country on May 1, and then began to look for representatives of the now former Iraqi leadership. In the end, the dictator himself was caught. He was arrested on 13 December 2003 in the basement of a village house near the village of Ad-Daur.
Very thin, dirty and overgrown, he was not at all like the powerful dictator he had been only six months ago. As Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of the US military forces in Iraq, noted, Saddam gave the impression of a man who was tired of life and resigned to his fate.
Imprisonment and execution
Saddam was kept in prison along with the rest of the prisoners. He was placed in a tiny four square meter solitary cell. The once all-powerful ruler of Iraq did not have access to the media, he spent his time reading books, writing poetry and praying. Occasionally he was taken out for a walk in the prison yard, where he organized his own mini-garden. True, only weeds grew in it, nevertheless, Saddam carefully looked after them.
Sergeant Robert Ellis recalled that the ousted dictator often remembered his dead daughter and almost did not mention the sons of Uday and Kusey, who were killed by the Americans. True, once he mentioned that he really lacks them.
Saddam was often interrogated. To make him more accommodating, he was shown video footage of jubilant Iraqis toppling statues of their former leader. According to eyewitnesses, this brought suffering to Hussein, his face turned red, his eyes filled with anger, and his voice changed. According to some reports, Saddam was tortured, but there is no evidence of this.
The deposed dictator was executed early in the morning on December 30, 2006, a few minutes before the start of Eid al-Adha (Day of Sacrifice). The time was chosen so that the moment of execution did not coincide with the beginning of the holiday according to the Shiite calendar. However, according to Sunni, it has already begun.
2003.
However, Uday became famous all over the world not as a journalist or an Olympian, but as a sadist and a psychopath. The Western media, especially before the anti-Iraq campaigns, were always full of publications about the cruelest massacres committed by Uday. According to eyewitnesses, Uday Hussein had a passion for torture, gambling, weapons and women, he easily fell into anger, and many, according to eyewitnesses, paid with their lives for daring to contradict him.
Many sources claim that Uday was the real Don Juan. There is no doubt that part of his turbulent life is an exaggeration. But there is a fact that in the 80s he filmed girls in nightclubs in Baghdad, after which he took them to his mansion. Those who resisted had to deal with his bodyguards who used force. According to some reports, in 1979, at the age of 15, he took part in the massacre of members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Iraq, after which many of his powers were transferred personally to Saddam Hussein.
The wedding of Uday and his wife (cousin) Saji. The marriage was unsuccessful. Due to the cruelty and beatings of Udeya, Saja was forced to return to her parents.
Saddam Hussein's son is also known to have visited his many mistresses in a tank. The eldest son of the president, although he remained unpunished, was occasionally punished by his father. One day, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered that his son Uday be punished with stick blows. The president's son was subjected to such a severe punishment "for obscene offers to foreign women" to stay with him. It is noteworthy that the beatings were inflicted on the legs of Uday, who, after the assassination attempt on him, moved for a long time in a wheelchair. Because of this, diplomats among themselves called the son of the President of Iraq "Lame". Saddam was pissed off when Uday, after swimming in the pool of Baghdad's best hotel, the Rashid, invited the wife of the Danish charge d'affaires to spend the night together. The most scandalous case occurred in Baghdad with the Italian model Barbara Di Palma back in April 2002. She was invited to Iraq for a cultural event - to participate in a fashion show, but Saddam's son began to molest her and her girlfriend, persuading them to have sex. The fashion model's interpreter was intimidated by Hussein's son's entourage and claimed that they would be in serious trouble if they did not sleep with Udey. In all hotels in Baghdad, Uday's henchmen were always on duty, picking up women for him. Often there were pop stars among them. One noteworthy detail: all of Uday's "close friends" (both tourists and pop stars) invariably left him, gifted with the same luxurious silver bracelets.
After the overthrow of Hussein's regime, a secret women's prison was found in Baghdad, which belonged to the eldest son of the former Iraqi president. Girls were imprisoned in it, who opposed Udey in his harassment. 11 female prisoners were rescued from prison - four died in custody from hunger and thirst. Uday lived in the presidential palace in Baghdad. Nearby was another house for his harem. American soldiers found in these houses mountains of pornographic photographs downloaded from the Internet, and all the walls were hung with paintings depicting naked women. Among them were even photographs of the president's daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush taken in the gym. In the black book - hundreds of female names. There were also photographs of senior classes, which confirms the suspicion that Uday ordered the kidnapping of girls to satisfy his needs. At the same time, the soldiers found Cuban cigars with his name on the packaging in the palace, a large amount of alcoholic beverages, a gold-plated Kalashnikov assault rifle, six suitcases with heroin worth 625 thousand pounds (about a million dollars), expensive watches and photos of other women in gyms.
In March 2001, as a result of a "universal and fair" vote, Uday was elected a member of the Iraqi parliament by a majority of 99.9%. In the future, he expected to receive the post of speaker, which would give him the right to participate in meetings of the highest authority in the country - the Revolutionary Command Council. However, by order of Saddam, Udey was not allowed to go any further. Yes, and he was allowed to take a seat in parliament on the condition that Uday would not try to push his brother Kusei into the background. Uday tried to strengthen his position in the state security by removing Kusey's people from there. His influential newspaper "Babil" began to publish exposing materials about "corruption in the organs." The eldest son of Saddam even managed to achieve a number of changes in their leadership. However, he failed to turn the tide in his favor. The eldest son of Saddam tried to gain a foothold in politics and take a special place in it. In February 2002, Uday was awarded the title of professor of political science at Baghdad's Saddam University for a 300-page doctoral thesis on international relations in the 21st century. In this work, Uday predicted the imminent collapse of the United States.
Uday Hussain was obsessed with gold jewelry and precious stones. So, once he bought a diamond worth 450 thousand dollars in Saudi Arabia, which he liked on one of the sites. And one of the Arab singers, who visited Baghdad with concerts, said that Uday wore gold lining with diamonds on his nails.
Uday Hussein is also known as a great collector. Thus, the eldest son of the former leader of Iraq over the past 12 years has imported 1.5 thousand cars into the country for himself. He has amassed one of the most unusual collections of prestige cars in the world. Uday owned 18 Rolls-Royces, including Corniches, Silver Wraiths, Silver Spirits and Silver Shadows - each costing up to £250,000 in today's prices. Also in the collection were 3 Bentleys, at least 22 Mercedes-Benzes, 3 Jaguars, a Lamborghini Diablo VT worth over £180,000, 4 Bugatti, 3 Aston Martins, 4 Cadillacs, several Ferraris (including the 348 Barchetta), half a dozen Porsches, Lotus Esprit, Maclaren, Maserati, dozens of Dodges and Toyotas, as well as the Mini Cooper and Land Rover Discovery that Uday used while hunting. In January 2001, Uday brought a convertible Bentley Azure from Jordan that cost over £230,000. Some of Uday's cars were heavily modified. For example, one of the Mercedes had 150 changes, and one of the Rolls-Royce was redesigned to look like a Mercedes from the back. Interiors of two Mercedes were painted with war scenes. The other car could quickly change color to confuse the chase. Some cars, including a Rolls-Royce, were stolen in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion. Uday sent them by ferry to Baghdad. He was forced to hide many of his cars in secret garages and warehouses because his father disapproved of such spending. One day, after a family row in October 1995, Saddam ordered the destruction of 50 Uday cars that were in an underground parking lot in the presidential palace in Baghdad.
After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the Baghdad police found 360 cars in Uday's personal underground garage. Some of them were destroyed or damaged during the bombing of Baghdad, the rest were stolen during the pogroms and looting that began after the fall of Baghdad. Several cars were returned. The Baghdad police held an auction selling the cars of Saddam's eldest son.
It is alleged that Udey killed his delinquent bodyguards with his own hands right in front of his father. In addition, on his account the murder of his wife (one of the three). He used the building of the Olympic Committee to torture athletes. Iraqi athletes who fled to the West told human rights organizations that when a team lost, Uday "prescribed" clubbing to the players, dunked them in filth, ordered people to be thrown off bridges, forced them to crawl on hot asphalt and kick concrete walls. As soon as the Iraqi national team had an unsuccessful match, it was impossible for her to avoid several days of torture. During the match, Uday took notes detailing how each individual player should be subjected to torture. At the end of the duel, the offenders (often it was the whole team) were sent to the basement of the Olympic Committee building, where long days of bullying awaited them. According to the testimony collected, more than 50 athletes were tortured to death in Iraq in the years before the fall of Baghdad, and the son of the Iraqi president was involved in almost all the deaths. An investigation by the International Olympic Committee did not then prove the authenticity of these accusations, however, when Saddam Hussein's regime fell, American soldiers found many instruments of torture for athletes, including medieval ones, as well as special prisons for delinquent athletes.
"Fedayeen Saddam" - volunteer militia. Translated from Arabic, “fedayin” means “self-sacrificing”. According to various estimates, the number of Fedayeen in Iraq ranged from 18,000 to 40,000. In 1995, this organization was created by Uday, who became its commander in chief. He paid them the equivalent of $100 per month (civil servants received $3), provided them with land, free medical care, and additional food rations. Uday's idea to create an elite personal army from this militia failed: in September 1996, a scandal erupted - Saddam Hussein suddenly found out that high-tech military equipment and heavy equipment were strangely flowing from the Republican Guard to the fedayeen. For some time, Saddam removed Uday from the leadership of the Fedayeen, passing their rule to his youngest son, but soon the elder Hussein regained leadership in Fedayeen Saddam.
Fedayeen fulfilled all the whims of their commander: all over the country they caught beautiful girls for him, cut out the tongues of opponents of the regime and intimidated the population. In 1998, in the Shiite city of Karbala, black-robed Fedayeen, wearing face-covering knitted black helmets, rounded up people whom they suspected of a failed assassination attempt on Izzat Ibrahim, Hussein's deputy on the Revolutionary Command Council. Hundreds of people were thrown into prison and tortured. This armed group took an active part in the executions of prostitutes, led by Uday Hussein. The end of Fedayeen Saddam came with the death of Uday and the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Before the start of the war on March 18, George W. Bush issued an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein demanding that he resign and leave the country with his sons. In response to this, Uday said on television that in fact the proposal should sound completely different: that President Bush should "resign." The son of the president of Iraq called the figure of the American president "unstable" and advised him to leave the White House. Otherwise, "the bloodiest battle" will be prepared for the American troops in Iraq. Uday Hussein warned the United States that an attack on Iraq would expand the scope of the war some Islamic countries are waging against the United States. According to Uday, " the wives and mothers of those who attack us will weep and there will be no end to their tears... They will lose faith that there is at least one safe place for them - both in Iraq and in the rest of the world". The next day, Arab media reported that Saddam Hussein had his eldest son arrested and sent under guard to the Tartar presidential complex. The reason for the arrest was a secret attempt by Uday Hussein to negotiate with the Jordanians about the flight to Amman. On March 31, for the first time since the start of the war, the world saw a meeting of the military command, which was chaired by Saddam Hussein. Udey and his younger brother Kusei took part in it. A week later, on April 6, Iraqi television aired the live video of Uday for the last time. After the overthrow of the Saddam regime, Uday disappeared with his father, brother and a number of other political figures in Iraq. For him, as well as for many hiding, the hunt began.
The house of Uday and Qusay Hussein in Mosul, destroyed by the US military
The official reaction of the Arab countries to the death of Hussein's sons was very restrained. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi commented on the news: it would be enough just to surround Uday and Kusey, capture them and submit the case to the court", since such a cruel destruction of them" simply unacceptable in today's civilized society».
