Who is the meanest man in Iraq? Those who think it is Saddam Hussein may want to change their opinion. Saddam's new Interior Minister, his paternal cousin Ali Hassan Majid, is as pitiless as they come -- "a total brute," as a British diplomat describes him.
Born in 1940 in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, Majid began his career in the Baath Party's internal-security branch, whimsically called the Instrument of Yearning. Its reputation for rough torture made it the most feared organization in Iraq. Grateful for Majid's help in ridding him of Baathist rivals, Saddam made him Minister of Municipalities. But his...
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