WHO IS SPEAKING IN IRAQ?
The Iraqi offer to withdraw from Kuwait broadcast over Baghdad Radio came from the Revolutionary Command Council. What is it?
POWER. The council is an elite body that makes the most important decisions in Iraq. It is led by President Saddam Hussein, and acts as an inner Cabinet. It is ranked above Hussein’s regular 25-member Cabinet.
MAKEUP. Hussein is chairman, and members include these deputies:
--Izzat Ibrahim, vice chairman since 1979. On paper, he is the second in command.
--First Deputy Prime Minister Taha Yassin Ramadan, head of the Baath Party militia, believed to have 850,000 members.
--Deputy Prime Minister Sadoun Hammadi, speaker of Parliament from 1980 to 1989 and foreign minister from 1973 to 1981.
--Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz, a Christian in a Muslim-dominated Cabinet, former editor of the Baath Party newspaper and ex-information minister. He also holds the position of deputy prime minister.
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