Sabah Mirza Mahmud ( ar, صباح ميرزا محمود, 1943–2005) was an Iraqi military colonel and the first personal companion of former Iraqi president

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

Early life

Sabah was one of Saddam's old friends, and began his violent partisan duties since the age of 16. In his youth, he was known in his neighborhood (

Adhamiyah Al-Adhamiyah ( ar, الأعظمية, ''al-aʿẓamiyyah''; BGN: ''Al A‘z̧amīyah''), also Azamiya, is a neighborhood and east-central district of the city of Baghdad, Iraq. It is one of nine administrative districts in Baghdad. Adhamiyah ne ...

) as a

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

. When he was a student, he joined

General Union Students in the Republic of Iraq A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED On ...

, Sabah graduated from Languages Institute, though he stayed unemployed for some time until Saddam recruited him as his bodyguard.

Career

Service under Saddam Hussein

His

Code Name A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...

was Lieutenant Yusif. In preparation for the coup of 17 July Revolution 1968 Sabah was assigned to lead one of the groups that were deployed to patrol some streets of Baghdad. He served Saddam as his bodyguard for over 22 years. He received quick military promotions through the ranks due to his closeness to Saddam Hussein. During the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Council ...

, Sabah attended night shifts at the headquarters of Central Command, where Saddam used to attend one hour a day to be briefed on the military operations.

U.S invasion

Sabah was captured in 2003 by American occupying forces to be questioned about Saddam's hiding place, and he was soon released as there was no evidence of his knowledge thereof, but a weapons cache was seized from his farm.

Sport

He was elected as vice chairman of National Olympic Committee of Iraq, he was also appointed as Chairman of the

Iraqi Football Association The Iraq Football Association (IFA) ( ar, الاتحاد العراقي لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Iraq, controlling the Iraqi national team and the Iraqi Premier League. The Iraqi Football Association was founded ...

to assert the new regime authority over the nation’s favorite's sport, at the time when Iraqi Team became one of the most successful national teams in Asia, he also was appointed as the president of Al-Shabab sport club. ٍ

Farming

Sabah had a 10-

Dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; tr, dönüm; he, דונם), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area equivalent to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amount ...

farm in Jurf Al Naddaf area southeast of Baghdad, which he claimed that it was an unproductive vacant land, and he

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

it and thereafter owned it officially.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirza Mahmoud, Sabah 1943 births 2005 deaths