Iraq Gets Hard-Line Defense Chief
Saddam Hussein fired his son-in-law, considered the second most powerful man in Iraq, and replaced him as defense chief Wednesday with a cousin notorious for the brutal treatment of Kuwaitis and Kurds.
The move marked a major change within the family circle that controls the ministries and security departments considered crucial for keeping Hussein in power after Iraq’s Gulf War defeat.
The report by the official Iraqi News Agency gave no reason for Hussein Kamel Hassan’s departure. It said security branches will be concentrated in the hands of Interior Minister Ali Hassan Majid.
Known as “Ali Chemawi,” or Ali Chemical, for his chemical-weapon attacks on the Kurds, Majid is the one man most Kurds hate more than Hussein. As governor of conquered Kuwait in 1990, Majid reportedly supervised the looting of the emirate.
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