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Top Saddam Official Released
 Iraqi authorities have released a top official in Saddam Hussein's former regime because he is apparently terminally ill.
Ghazi Hammud Al-Obeidi, former regional chairman in the southern Iraqi city of Kut for the former ruling Baath party, was the first to be released among detained former regime members who were on the list of 55 most wanted Iraqis. "Ghazi Obeidi is suffering from cancer and according to my information he has been released for health reasons," Justice Minister Abdel Hussein Shandal told The Associated Press. "Only for health reasons." Shandal did not elaborate but Obeidi's lawyer, Badee Izzat Aref, said he was released April 28 because he was suffering from what appears to be terminal stomach cancer.
Aref said that he met Obeidi, 65, recently and described his condition as "very bad" and added that he was in a wheel chair. He also appealed for the release of Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, known as "Mrs. Anthrax," because she was suffering from breast cancer. Ammash was one of the two other people featured in pictures published Saturday by the British tabloid The Sun, along with photos showing an imprisoned Saddam, including one where he is clad only in his underwear.
Posted by: Fred 2005-05-23 |
