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Saddam: Daughters suffered
01/08/2003 16:50 - (SA)
Amman - The daughters of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, now holed up in Jordan, were not spared the brunt of their father's cruelty.
Raghad and Rana Saddam Hussein suffered from Saddam's sadistic streak just like the rest of the Iraqi population, seeing their husbands and their families exterminated on their father's orders.
On August 8, 1995, the two women, their husbands, General Hussein Kamel Hassan al-Majid and his brother Colonel Saddam Kamel, along with some 30 members of the Majid family, spectacularly defected to Jordan.
Two days later, from the safety of his refuge across the border, Hussein Kamel appealed in an interview for the Iraqi people to rise up and overthrow his father-in-law's regime.
Baghdad's reply was swift, accusing the former military industrialisation minister of stealing millions of dollars.
Unbowed, Hussein Kamal disclosed details of Iraqi armaments to United Nations envoys sent to Jordan for the purpose, forcing Baghdad for the first time to admit having equipped its missiles with chemical warheads.
But the Iraqi opposition was sceptical and gave him a wide berth due to his former role within the regime, while the Arab world and the west were equally reticent.
Increasingly isolated, by July 14 he was telling journalists that he planned to return home and open negotiations with the government.
Saddam offered amnesty
Saddam saw his chance and sent a message offering amnesty in exchange for his return along with all the family members who left with him and the repayment of the money he took with him.
On February 20, 1996, he took the fatal step of crossing the border at Trebil where he was publicly embraced by Saddam's elder son Uday.
Raghad and Rana and their nine children would never see their husbands again and their divorces were announced on February 23, the day of a massive attack on the family home in the al-Sayidiyah region of Baghdad, supervised by Uday, his brother Qusay and Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known to the world as Chemical Ali.
The local population was cordially invited to witness "the punishment of the traitors" and later that day Chemical Ali gave Saddam "the good news" that there were no survivors.
Raghad and Rana had been living as virtual recluses in Iraq ever since, until seeking asylum first in Syria and now in Jordan.
- SAPA
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