Damascus: Raghad Hussein, the eldest daughter of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, raised eyebrows last month with a recorded speech on the 14th anniversary of her father’s execution, sharply criticising Iran and the post-Saddam rulers of Iraq.
The audio clip was published on her official Twitter account and made no mention of the Americans who toppled her father in 2003, only of Iran and its Iraqi proxies whom she described as “enemies of justice, freedom, and humanity.”
“My father and brothers resisted the occupiers until the end, until achieving martyrdom” she said, in reference to Saddam and his two sons, Qusay and Uday. She described Saddam as the “legitimate president of Iraq,” then hinted at supporting the anti-government demonstrations in Baghdad, which broke out on October 1, 2019 and brought own then-Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mehdi. She praised the young Iraqis for resisting “humiliation and tyranny, while demanding rights, freedom, and a dignified