Posted on 01/23/2004 9:21:27 PM PST by blam
Iraqi informer's family is marked for death
Nawaf al-Zaidan earned $30m by leading the US to Saddam's sons. Now local tribes have sworn revenge
Rory McCarthy in Mosul
Saturday January 24, 2004
The Guardian (UK)
The spot where Nawaf al-Zaidan's mansion once stood is now empty. Bulldozers flattened the building, leaving a neat square of red earth, as if to erase the memory of what happened here six months ago. Scrawled nearby in red paint are the words: "Houses and land for sale." On July 22 last year, Mr Zaidan left his home in the al-Bareed suburb of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul shortly after dawn. He drove to an American military base with his son, Shalan, where he admitted to incredulous officers that for several days he had been sheltering Uday and Qusay, the two feared sons of the former dictator Saddam Hussein.
By mid-afternoon, after a huge military operation, a torrent of US firepower had destroyed the house and Uday and Qusay were dead, together with the two others inside: Qusay's son, Mustapha, and Uday's bodyguard, Abdul Samad.
Mr Zaidan, 36, last seen calmly smoking in the back of a military Humvee as he watched the battle, was promptly paid a $30m (£16.3m) reward for leading the Americans to two of their most wanted. He was flown to a new life abroad with his wife, Mohassin, their son Shalan, 18, and their four younger daughters.
Six months later, the 101st Airborne Division, which oversaw the operation, is at the end of its tour and will soon fly home. But in Mosul the repercussions of that day are still felt. Mr Zaidan's decision to give up Saddam's two sons has left the rest of his large family in fear of their lives. They believe 48 of the men and boys are now being hunted down.
US officers look back with pride on the operation, the first major strike against Saddam's close family. "It was a big day, a big event," said Major Trey Cate, of the 101st Airborne, although he noted that the same week the division lost six soldiers in two ambushes. Tips from Iraqis have dramatically increased, he said.
"It takes time for an intel [intelligence] structure to build and grow. They paid the man the reward for the information and that showed people that we can be trusted to do what we say, and we can be trusted to go after the bad guys."
But by handing in Saddam's sons, Mr Zaidan betrayed one of the most closely-held principles of tribal law: that a host has an obligation to protect his guests.
The families at the top of Saddam's powerful albu-Nasir tribe, who still swear allegiance to the dictator, have promised to exact revenge on the Zaidans. In the weeks after the operation, printed lists appeared on walls in Mosul and in the town of Sinjar, the Zaidan family home to the west, naming dozens of male relatives and threatening them with death. There was an explosion outside the house of one of Mr Zaidan's brothers, and another two empty family houses were ransacked.
His four brothers, Sabah, Salah, Wadhah and Moeyd, have now disappeared from Mosul and have sought shelter in the Kurdish town of Irbil, 50 miles to the east. They refuse to talk about what has happened, but one of Mr Zaidan's cousins, Abu Mushtaq, a balding, chain-smoking man dressed in a grey suit and shirt, described how Uday and Qusay came to Mosul to seek shelter in May last year, weeks after the collapse of the regime.
Huge sums
The two were brought by the bodyguard, Abdul Samad, a cousin of Saddam and a friend of the Zaidan family. He took them first to the house of Nawaf Zaidan's elder brother, Salah, also in Mosul, where they stayed during May and June last year. Although Salah had been imprisoned by Saddam for three years, he was willing to take the two men in. "He took them in because he knew they would leave huge sums of money for him, millions of dollars," said Abu Mushtaq.
Then Nawaf Zaidan, a businessman who neighbours said grew wealthy during the 1990 occupation of Kuwait, encouraged them to move to his house, a large, two-storey concrete mansion on a corner of a main road in the city. For 18 days they stayed hidden, until July 22, when Mr Zaidan apparently believed they were to be smuggled out of the country.
Late the previous night, according to Abu Mushtaq, Saddam had appeared at the house to see his sons before they left. He was gone before dawn on the day of the operation.
At around 6am, Nawaf Zaidan took his own family from the house. He left his wife and daughters at a restaurant and drove with his son to a nearby American military base to give his information. Abu Mushtaq said the betrayal had dishonoured the family and should be punished. "All the tribes around Mosul said it is a shame to see one of our people do something like this," he said. "If we see Nawaf now we will kill him. It is our tradition. If someone kills your brother and suddenly you find yourself in front of the man who did it, will you let them go? No.
"Nawaf knew this but he was hungry for money. He is a bad guy and this is the time of the devil. He wanted to live as a real sheikh. Even if he borrowed money from people, he would spend it straight away, just to show he had money."
He said the four brothers were at the top of the list of hunted men, together with their sons, several cousins and their uncles. At least 48 were under threat. "Salah especially is in great danger," he said. The tribes would not accept negotiations or any payment in lieu of revenge.
Power vacuum
It appears from this case that men loyal to Saddam are still able to exact revenge against their enemies, nearly a year after the fall of the regime. The threats also underline the pervasive influence that the often brutal tribal laws carry in the power vacuum of postwar Iraq.
At Saddam's former palace, now the headquarters of the US military in Mosul, Maj Cate said the army was unaware of any threats against the Zaidan family. "We do not have any visibility on the subject. I think it is more of a police issue. The police are out on the streets doing their job now," he said.
In the headquarters of the provincial police, the police chief, Major General Mohammed Queri Mahmoud al-Barhawi, said he did not believe that any of the Zaidans were at risk. "We have had no complaints from anyone that they have received threats," he said. "I think Uday and Qusay deserved to be killed because they hurt Iraqi society so much."
But he admitted the tribal code remained powerful within the conservative culture of Mosul. "Revenge killings do still continue, just like any third world country," he said. "We will not disagree with the tribal code unless it works against the law. It is a part of the tradition of our society."
But Abu Mushtaq said the family feared the revenge would come soon and would be brutal. "It will not be enough for them to kill just the eldest ones, they will kill even the young boys," he said. "They will not kill them one by one. They are preparing a huge operation."
With 30 million he could take whoever he wants with him. But he didn’t. That should tell you something. At least it tells me something. Mainly that he has certain relatives just like I have. They get to fend for themselves. That’s how I see it.
It's June 5th and I just heard on CSpan that this guy was offed. Haven't seen any articles yet.
Just confirming... I heard the same thing on Fox earlier this AM. Wonder why he stayed?
TN4Liberty--With 30 million the world is your oyster, yet he stays in that crap hole. Go figure. Let this be a lesson for the next informer(s).
DOH! I mean nice pic ChadGore.
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