Saddam was almost assassinated after A woman marked Saddam's limousine in blood from a sheep that had been slaughtered in his honour but the president's instinct told him to swap cars and he avoided a hail of bullets

Did you know that Saddam was almost assassinated after “A woman marked Saddam’s limousine in blood from a sheep that had been slaughtered in his honour but the president’s instinct told him to swap cars and he avoided a hail of bullets”

 

There is little sympathy for Saddam Hussein in the town of Dujail. Almost every family has a tragic story to tell about the massacre of its inhabitants after a failed assassination attempt on the former Iraqi president.

Where once olive trees and palm dates stood, there is still a desolate air in the town 23 years after the destruction carried out by the Republican Guard.

 

The butchering of Dujail would have proved a footnote in history if the event had not registered as the first formal charge being brought against Saddam by Iraq’s special tribunal, the body set up to dispense justice on the former Ba’athist officials from his regime. A conviction could lead to a swift execution, making future prosecutions redundant.

In 1982 an ambush was launched on Saddam’s presidential motorcade by men in the predominantly Shia town who belonged to the Dawaa movement formed in protest against the invasion of Shia areas of Iran.

Read more

Saddam was almost assassinated after A woman marked Saddam's limousine in blood from a sheep that had been slaughtered in his honour but the president's instinct told him to swap cars and he avoided a hail of bullets