Raghad Hussein

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Raghad Saddam Hussein (Arabic: رغد صدام حسين‎‎; born 2 September 1968) is the eldest daughter of former President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein and Sajida Talfah.

Biography

In 1983, she was married to Hussein Kamel al-Majid, a high-profile Iraqi defector who shared weapons secrets with UNSCOM, the CIA and MI6. Kamel was killed, along with his brother, by fellow-clan members who declared them traitors. Saddam had allegedly made it clear that although he had pardoned both Kamel and his brother, they would lose all status and would not receive any protection. Raghad's sister, Rana Hussein was married to Hussein Kamel's brother Saddam Kamel who suffered the same fate.

Raghad bore five children to Hussein Kamel, three sons, Ali, Saddam and Wahej, and two daughters, Haris and Banan.

On July 2, 2006, the government of Iraq national security advisor Muwaffaq al-Rubaie declared that Raghad and her mother Sajida Talfah were wanted because they supported the insurgency in Iraq.[1] The Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf al-Bakhit made a statement that "Raghad was under the royal family's protection" and "The presence of Mrs Raghad Saddam Hussein and her children in Jordan is motivated by humanitarian considerations, She is the guest of the Hashemite royal family (of King Abdullah II) and under its protection as a seeker of asylum" in accordance with Arab tradition. Her exact location however has not been disclosed.[2]

On 30 December 2006 Saddam Hussein was executed in Iraq. Prior to the execution Raghad asked for her father's body to be temporarily buried in Yemen, until coalition forces are expelled from Iraq.[3]

In August 2007 the international police agency Interpol announced that it had circulated an arrest warrant for Raghad on suspicions that she and her aides had been assisting the Insurgency in Iraq.[4] These suspicions are reflected in an August 2014 article in Spiegel Online, which proposes the title "Terror Godmother".[5] The article reports that, while living in opulence in Jordan, her fortune in the double-digit millions is used to support the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, with the ultimate goal of returning to avenging power in Baghdad. Earlier in June, Fox News Channel had quoted such an intention expressed in an interview given by Raghad.[6]

References

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External links

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