WASHINGTON, 5 March 2003 — About 50 top Iraqi leaders closely associated with President Saddam Hussein will be targeted for capture or physical elimination if the United States goes to war against Baghdad, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Besides Saddam Hussein himself, the list includes Ali Hassan Majid, a cousin of Saddam, who is believed to be the architect of a 1988 gas attack against northern Kurds.
Bush’s goal of regime change in Iraq will mean removing from power perhaps as many as 50 people mostly related to the Iraqi president by blood or marriage, according to The Journal.
Topping the list will be a group the State Department calls the “dirty dozen,” including Saddam’s two sons Uday and Qusay — though not his three daughters — several of his brothers and people from his tribe, Al Bu Nasser, the report said.
The 50 will be targeted for either capture or death in combat, the paper said.
The group includes some of the most visible figures in Iraq’s government, such as Taha Yassin Ramadan, vice president of the country and army commander, and Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz.
Another family member in the inner circle is the former head of Iraqi intelligence, Barzan Ibrahim Hasan Tikriti, Saddam Hussein’s half-brother and the father of Uday Hussein’s wife, Saja. The list also reportedly includes Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri, vice chairman of Iraq’s Revolutionary Command Council.
