Sulṭān Hāshim Aḥmad Muḥammad al-Ṭāʾī ( ar, سلطان هاشم أحمد محمد الطائي; 1945 – 19 July 2020) was an Iraqi military commander, who served as
Minister of Defense
A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
under
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 ...
's regime. Considered one of Iraq's most competent military commanders, he was appointed to the position in 1995. During his over 30 year military career, Sultan commanded two brigades, three divisions, and two corps of regular army corps before assuming responsibilities as Minister of Defense.
Career
Persian Gulf War
Sultan served in the Iraqi Army during the 1980–1988
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 ...
and later in the
Persian Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
, signing the ceasefire that ended it. He survived several purges and became the highest-ranking general in the Iraqi Army. He was regarded largely as a figurehead in the Iraqi military without any amount of real control.
Iraq War
As the invasion of Iraq loomed, it was reported in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' in February 2003 that Sultan had been placed under house arrest by Saddam Hussein, in a move that was apparently designed to prevent a coup. He criticized
Qusay Hussein
Qusay Saddam Hussein al-Nasiri al-Tikriti (or Qusai, ar, قصي صدام حسين; 17 May 1966 – 22 July 2003) was an Iraqi politician, military leader, and the second son of Saddam Hussein. He was appointed as his father's heir apparent in ...
’s handling of the
Iraqi Republican Guard
Iraqi or Iraqis (in plural) means from Iraq, a country in the Middle East, and may refer to:
* Iraqi people or Iraqis, people from Iraq or of Iraqi descent
* A citizen of Iraq, see demographics of Iraq
* Iraqi or Araghi ( fa, عراقی), someone o ...
, saying Qusay “knew nothing
bout commanding military
Bout can mean:
People
*Viktor Bout, suspected arms dealer
*Jan Everts Bout, early settler to New Netherland
*Marcel Bout
Musical instruments
* The outward-facing round parts of the body shape of violins, guitars, and other stringed instrumen ...
He understood only simple military things like a civilian. We prepared information and advice for him and he'd accept it or not.” Nevertheless, he continued to appear on Iraqi state-run T.V., to preserve a sense of normality.
Sultan was number 27 on the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
'
list of most wanted former Iraqi officials. On 19 September 2003, after nearly a week of negotiations, he gave himself up in
Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...
to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).
Dawood Bagistani
romanized: Dāwīḏ syr, ܕܘܝܕ, Dawīd Koine el, Δαυίδ, Dauíd
, image = Prophet Dawood Name.svg
, image size = 150px
, caption = David's name in Islamic calligraphy
, birth_date = 10th ce ...
, who arranged the surrender to Maj. Gen.
David Petraeus
David Howell Petraeus (; born November 7, 1952) is a retired United States Army general and public official. He served as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 6, 2011, until his resignation on November 9, 2012. Prior to h ...
, said Sultan was handed over "with great respect" and was with his family at the time. Bagistani said the
U.S. military
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
had promised to remove Sultan's name from the list of 55 most-wanted, meaning he would not face indefinite confinement and possible prosecution. "We trust the promise," Bagistani said.
Special treatment for Sultan al-Tai could be an effort to defuse the
guerrilla-style attacks that were taking a toll on American soldiers. Many of the attackers are thought to be former soldiers in Saddam's army. Seeing their former military leader well-treated by the Americans might have encouraged them to lay down their arms.
On 24 June 2007, he was sentenced to death by hanging for war crimes and crimes against humanity. However his execution was not carried out because of public disapproval from Iraq's president
Jalal Talabani
Jalal Talabani ( ku, مام جەلال تاڵەبانی, translit=Celal Talebanî; ar, جلال طالباني ; 1933 – 3 October 2017) was an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the sixth president of Iraq from 2006 to 2014, as well as ...
. In May 2018, Iraq's Parliament speaker
Salim al-Jabouri
Salim Abdullah al-Jabouri (Arabic: سليم عبدالله الجبوري) (born 12 August 1971) is an Iraqi politician who was elected as the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament on 15 July 2014 until 1 July 2018.
Al-Jabouri now holds the position o ...
, requested a pardon for Sultan al-Tai alleging medical reasons. He then was transferred from the prison in
Nasiriyah
Nasiriyah ( ar, ٱلنَّاصِرِيَّة; United States Board on Geographic Names, BGN: ''An Nāşirīyah''; also spelled ''Nassiriya'' or ''Nasiriya'') is a city in Iraq. It is on the lower Euphrates River, Euphrates, about south-southeas ...
to a prison in Baghdad.
Death
Sultan al-Tai died on 19 July 2020 from a heart attack in the
Nasiriyah Central Prison.
References
External links
''Guardian'' websiteFrom Ally to AdversaryEx-Saddam defense minister set to be executed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tai, Sultan Hashim Ahmad
1945 births
2020 deaths
People from Mosul
Tulfah family
Iraqi generals
Iraqi soldiers
Genocide perpetrators
Iraqi people convicted of crimes against humanity
Iraqi prisoners sentenced to death
Prisoners sentenced to death by Iraq
Government ministers of Iraq
Governors of Nineveh Governorate
Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region politicians
Iraqi military personnel of the Iran–Iraq War
Iraqi mass murderers
Prisoners who died in Iraqi detention