Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Sadi
Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Saadi or Amer al-Saadi (born April 5, 1938), "the organizational genius behind the Iraqi superweapons program,"[1] was Saddam Hussein's liaison with the UN inspectors in the runup to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Like the defector Hussein Kamel al-Majid, he insisted Iraq had destroyed its prohibited weapons. While he was dismissed by the US as a liar, he was vindicated by the subsequent failure to uncover weapons of mass destruction by the Iraqi Survey Group.
He was #32 on the most-wanted list, and seven of diamonds in the card deck.
Detainment
He turned himself in to coalition forces on April 12, 2003, with the help of ZDF journalists who he asked to monitor and document his surrender. He was detained in Baghdad International Airport as a "High Value Detainee". As such he has been subjected to solitary confinement for 23 hours a day. The International Committee of the Red Cross stated in its confidential report to the coalition authority that this constituted a "serious violation of the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions". He was both the first person on the most wanted list to turn himself in, and the first to be detained by the U.S.
According to a written Parliamentary answer[2] by Dennis Mcshane MP to Angus Robertson MP, Amer Al Saadi was released by the US on 18 January 2005. However, as detailed here, this claim is highly dubious. A June 20, 2005 Newsweek article reported that a "State Department official...denied al-Sadi had been freed from custody," while in July, 2005 (i.e., well after January), Dr. Rod Barton, an Australian scientist who was a key deputy to Charles Duelfer, made a strong plea for the release of Dr. al-Saadi, which would certainly indicate that someone in a position to know still believed him to be held. He was released later that year.[3]
Career
He was awarded a PhD is in physical chemistry from Battersea College of Technology. During his study he married a German in London in October 1963; their common language is English. Mrs al-Saadi raised their children in Hamburg.
He retired a lieutenant general in 1994 and was made a presidential scientific advisor.
He was not a member of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.
Family
His younger brother Radhwan al-Saadi worked in Iraq's oil ministry and is now head of its finance department.
References
- ^ Robert Windrem (October 24, 2003). "Iraqi negotiator was Saddam's favorite: Superweapons czar led talks on inspections with Blix". MSNBC.
- ^ http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200405/cmhansrd/cm050204/text/50204w22.htm
- ^ http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j7hoAdOPZhVCzvx91ag2OdVdqkwg
- February 2004 Report of the ICRC on treatment by coalition forces in Iraq