Samira Shahbandar

Samira Shahbandar was Saddam Hussein's second wife. She is the mother of his third son, Ali. It was never confirmed that Ali is alive, and the members of Hussein's family claim that Ali is his grandson.

Biography

Prior to marrying Saddam Hussein, Samira was a doctor. She became his mistress. Kamel Hana Gegeo, Hussein's valet, food taster and friend, introduced Samira to him. Hussein secretly married Samira while married to Sajida Talfah, his first wife.[1] Sajida was extremely jealous and angry when she found out about his mistress, and her brother Adnan Khairallah complained.[2]

Uday Hussein, son of Saddam and Sajida, was also angry over his father's mistress, took it as an insult to his mother, and believed that his status as heir apparent was threatened. In October 1988, at a party thrown in the honor of Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Uday beat and stabbed Gegeo to death (some say at the request of his mother), bludgeoning him repeatedly in front of horrified guests. Saddam Hussein declared that his son Uday Hussein would go to trial for murder. The parents of Gegeo (and Sajida herself) begged that Uday Hussein be pardoned, and he was temporarily banished to Switzerland.[3]

Her character was featured heavily in the plot of BBC adaptation House of Saddam and was played by Australian actress Christine Stephen-Daly.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Saddam's Minister of Mass Destruction?". ABCnews.com. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  2. ↑ Khairallah was killed in a helicopter crash, caused by "mechanical failure." Hussein's bodyguard said that he was told to place a bomb on the helicopter
  3. ↑ "Bride of Saddam, Matched Since Childhood". The Washington Post. 1998-04-10. Retrieved 2010-05-23.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.