Qusai Hussein

Qusai Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti (or Qusay) (born 1967 ?) is the second son of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. He was appointed as his father's heir in 2000. Qusai's older brother Uday Hussein had been seen as the heir until he was injured in an assassination attempt in 1996. Qusai is thought to head the internal security forces, possibly the Iraqi Intelligence Service[?] (SSO) and has had some authority over the Iraqi Republican Guard and other Iraqi military units.

Iraqi dissidents claim that Qusai Hussein was responsible for the killing of many political activists. The Sunday Times (London) reported that Qusai Hussein ordered the killing of Khalis Mohsen al-Tikriti, an engineer at the military industrialization organization, because Qusai believed he was planning to leave Iraq. In 1998, Iraqi opposition and human rights groups accused Qusai 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, George W. Bush gave Qusay Hussein 48 hours to leave the country with his brother Uday and father Saddam, or face war.

See: 2003 invasion of Iraq

External Links

• Iraq Foundation: A New Son Is Rising Over Iraq (October 2002) (http://www.iraqfoundation.org/news/2002/joct/3_newson.html)
• DesertVoice.net: Saddam's sons (http://www.desert-voice.net/saddam_sons.htm)
• Gulf News: Qusay given key role in war plans, 17-03-2003 (http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=80958)
• GlobalSecurity.org: Qusay Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/qusay.htm)
• BBC News: Saddam's rival sons, 10 Sep 2002 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2236137.stm)