Kamel Hana Gegeo (Syriac: ܟܐܡܠ ܚܢܢ ܓܓܘ; Arabic: كامل حنا ججو; c. 1960s – 18 October 1988) was an Iraqi Assyrian bodyguard, valet, and food taster of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He was murdered by Saddam’s son Uday Hussein at a party with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as a guest.
Kamel Hana Gegeo ܟܐܡܠ ܗܢܐ ܓܐܓܘ كامل حنا ججو | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1960s[1] |
| Died | 18 October 1988 |
| Cause of death | Murder |
| Nationality | Iraqi |
Career edit
Gegeo is said to have introduced Saddam to his second wife, Samira Shahbandar, and arranged trysts between them, which led to a feud between Gegeo and Sajida Talfah, Saddam’s first wife, and Uday Hussein, who took it as an insult to his mother Sajida.[2] Gegeo’s father, Hana Gegeo, was one of Saddam Hussein’s personal chefs, his mother was the nanny of Hala, one of Saddam’s daughters, and his brother, Malco Hana Gegeo, was a military man assigned by Saddam to form the Assyrian forces, which were then called the Assyrian regiment.[citation needed]
Death edit
On 18 October 1988, Gegeo was murdered by Uday Hussein. During a party thrown in honour of Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Uday bludgeoned Gegeo with a club in front of guests, and by some accounts, finally shot him to death, possibly acting on orders from his mother.[3] Saddam was willing to punish Uday and arrest him for murder, but after multiple pleas by his first wife Sajida Talfah and Gegeo’s parents to pardon Uday, he exiled him to Switzerland instead of imprisoning him.[4][5] Mubarak himself later called Uday a "psychopath".[3]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "IRAQI LEADER SAYS HIS SON KILLED GUARD". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. 1988-11-22. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
- ^ Obituary for Uday Saddam Hussein reporting the murder of Gegeo, FOX News(bad link)
- ^ a b Miller, Judith (July 23, 2003). "After the War:The Quarry; For Brutality, Hussein's sons Exceeded Even Their Father". The New York Times. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- ^ "Iraqi Refuses to Pardon Son". The New York Times. 27 November 1988.
- ^ "Uday & Qusay Hussein, Saddam's Wacky Sons". The Konformist. August 2003
