Qusay Hussein

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Qusay Hussein

Born May 17, 1966
Tikrit, Iraq
Died July 22, 2003 (age 37)
Mosul, Iraq
Children Three sons[1], one of them: Mustapha Hussein
Parents Saddam Hussein
Sajida Talfah

Qusay Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti (Arabic: قصي صدام حسين ) (or Qusai) (May 17, 1966 – July 22, 2003) was the second son of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. He was appointed as his father's heir apparent in 2000.

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[edit] Family

Qusay's older brother Uday Hussein had been seen as the heir until his serious injuries in an assassination attempt in 1996. Unlike Uday, who was known for extravagance, Qusay Hussein kept a low profile. Qusay was married to the daughter of a top ranking military official and had three sons.[2] [3]

[edit] Before the 2003 invasion

It is believed that until the 2003 invasion of Iraq Qusay was head of the internal security forces, possibly the Special Security Organization (SSO) and had some authority over the Iraqi Republican Guard and other Iraqi military units.

Qusay Hussein played a vital role in crushing the Shiite uprising in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War and is also thought to have masterminded the destruction of the southern marshes of Iraq. The wholesale destruction of these marshes ruined the habitat for dozens of species of migratory birds, and ended a centuries-old way of life that prevailed among the Shiite Marsh Arabs who made the wetlands their home: the Iraqi government stated that the action was intended to produce usable farmland, while a number of outside observers felt that the destruction was aimed against the Marsh Arabs, as retribution for their participation in the 1991 uprising.

Iraqi dissidents claim that Qusay Hussein was allegedly responsible for the killing of many political activists. The Sunday Times (London) reported that Qusay Hussein ordered the killing of Khalis Mohsen al-Tikriti, an engineer at the military industrialization organization, because Qusay believed he was planning to leave Iraq. In 1998, Iraqi opposition groups accused Qusay Hussein of ordering the executions of thousands of political prisoners after hundreds of inmates were summarily executed to make room for new prisoners in crowded jails.

In response to an imminent US invasion, in March 2003 Saddam gave Qusay control over the Baghdad-Tikrit area, one of four military zones. On March 17, 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush gave Qusay Hussein 48 hours to leave the country with his brother Uday and father Saddam, or face war.

[edit] After the invasion

House of Uday and Qusay in Mosul, Iraq destroyed by US forces, 31 July 2003
House of Uday and Qusay in Mosul, Iraq destroyed by US forces, 31 July 2003
Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division watch as a TOW missile strikes the side of a house of Uday and Qusay Hussein in Mosul, Iraq, 22 July 2003
Soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division watch as a TOW missile strikes the side of a house of Uday and Qusay Hussein in Mosul, Iraq, 22 July 2003

On July 22, 2003, troops of the American 101st Airborne, aided by U.S. Special Forces, killed Qusay and his older brother Uday during a raid on a home in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Acting on a tip from an unidentified Iraqi, a special forces team attempted to apprehend the inhabitants of the house. After being fired on, the special forces moved back and called for backup. As many as 200 American troops, later aided by Apache helicopters and an A-10 "Warthog" close air support aircraft, surrounded and fired on the house. After about four hours of battle (the operation itself lasted 6 hours), the soldiers entered the house and found four dead, including the brothers and their bodyguard. There were reports that Qusay's 14-year-old son Mustapha was the last one to die in the battle. Brig. Gen. Frank Helmick, the assistant commander of 101st Airborne has commented that all occupants of the home were dead before U.S troops entered the home after the fierce gun battle. [4]

On July 23, 2003, the American command said that it had conclusively identified two of the dead men as Saddam Hussein's sons, using dental records. They also announced that the informant, possibly the owner of the house, would receive the combined $30 million reward on the pair. The owner of the house where the brothers were killed was provided with U.S. citizenship and thereby allowed to depart from Iraq. In a likely revenge attack, his brother was killed in 2004 by unknown assassins.

Qusay was the ace of clubs in the coalition forces' most-wanted Iraqi playing cards, close to his father.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ CTV.ca | Who were Uday and Qusay Hussein?
  2. ^ CTV.ca | Who were Uday and Qusay Hussein?
  3. ^ [ War in Iraq ]
  4. ^ [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A31549-2003Jul22?language=printer ]

[edit] External links