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| Iraq |
| 10 of Diamonds captured |
| 2003-08-19 |
The former Iraqi vice-president known as "Saddam’s knuckles" has been captured by Kurdish fighters in Iraq. Taha Yassin Ramadan was seized in the northern city of Mosul on Monday and has now been handed over to the US Army. Mr Ramadan had been on America’s "most wanted" list of Iraqi officials and is accused of a role in the repression of Iraqi Kurds as well as Shia Muslims. According to unconfirmed reports, Mr Ramadan was dressed as a peasant at the time of his capture, and had been living among relatives or friends. The former vice-president figures as Number 20, or the 10 of Diamonds, in the "most-wanted" pack of cards issued by the US after this year’s invasion of Iraq. He is suspected of involvement in some of the most lethal operations conducted by Saddam’s regime: -the occupation of Kuwait which led to the first Gulf War in 1991He is also said to have presided over political purges aimed at strengthening Saddam’s control. He’ll get a prime seat at the war crimes trial. Now in his sixties, Mr Ramadan is originally from the region around Mosul, which has a mixed population of Arabs and Kurds. Mr Ramadan had a reputation for rhetoric even more anti-American than that of Saddam, once describing the US Congress as an extension of Israel’s Knesset, or parliament. His devotion to the leader appears to have been total and stretches back to the early days of the Baath party’s rule. On a visit to Jordan in the 1980s, he was asked by Islamic fundamentalists what the regime ruling mainly Muslim Iraq thought of Islam. Muslims were free to follow their faith, he said, but: "If they try to harm the Baathist regime or ridicule its slogans, the regime will break their necks!" A true believer. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 Nice we got the "knuckles" of Saddam, but I awiat the capture of his ass. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2003-8-19 1:57:01 PM |
| #1 Another good catch (this makes 38 of 55) but need to get Saddam to help reduce the continued attacks (i.e. UN bombing today) |
| Posted by: AWW 2003-8-19 10:13:00 AM |