Lieutenant General Abid Al-Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti ( ; ar, عبد الحميد محمود التكريتي) (21 September 1957 – 7 June 2012) was an Iraqi military officer and

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 personal secretary.

Biography

Mahmud began his military career as a

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

in the Iraqi Army. He rose through the ranks to Lieutenant General, becoming part of Saddam Hussein's personal bodyguard, and finally, his personal secretary. A distant cousin of Saddam Hussein, observers regarded Mahmud as being Hussein's right-hand man. He always maintained constant contact with Hussein and acted as a gatekeeper, controlling access to him. He was trusted, with Saddam's son

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 ...

, in overseeing the

Iraqi Special Security Organization The Iraqi Special Security Organization (SSO) ( ar, الأمن الخاص Al-Amn al-Khas) was the most powerful Iraqi security agency under President Saddam Hussein and was responsible for personal security of high-ranking government officials an ...

. He was designated ''ace of diamonds'' in the U.S. administration's

most-wanted Iraqi playing cards During the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a United States–led coalition, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency developed a set of playing cards to help troops identify the most-wanted members of President Saddam Hussein's government, mostly high-ran ...

and fourth on the most-wanted list after Saddam and his sons Uday and

Qusay Qusay (also transliterated as Qusai, ar, قصي, ) is a masculine given name. It may refer to: People * Qusai Abu Alieh, Jordanian footballer * Qusai Abtini, Syrian child actor * Ahmed Kousay Altaie, Iraqi American United States Army soldier, capt ...

. He was captured in a joint raid by members of B Squadron

Delta Force The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...

and G Squadron SAS and the 1st

Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

, 22nd Infantry Regiment of 1st

Brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

, 4th Infantry Division, in

Tikrit Tikrit ( ar, تِكْرِيت ''Tikrīt'' , Syriac language, Syriac: ܬܲܓܪܝܼܬܼ ''Tagrīṯ'') is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Gover ...

on 16 June 2003. At the time it was recognized as the "greatest success" since the end of major hostilities, and a sign that Saddam Hussein might soon be found. On 29 April 2008, he appeared before the

Iraq Special Tribunal The Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT), formerly the Iraqi Special Tribunal and sometimes referred to as the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal, is a body established under Iraqi national law to try Iraqi nationals or residents accused of genocide, crimes ag ...

set up by the

Iraq Interim Government The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the drafting of the new constitution following the National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005. T ...

and stood trial with six others including

Tariq Aziz Tariq Aziz ( ar, طارق عزيز , 28 April 1936 – 5 June 2015) was an Iraqi politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and a close advisor of President Saddam Hussein. Their association began in the 1950s wh ...

Ali Hassan al-Majid Ali Hassan Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti ( ar, علي حسن عبد المجيد التكريت, ʿAlī Ḥasan ʿAbd al-Majīd al-Tikrītī; 30 November 1941 – 25 January 2010), nicknamed Chemical Ali ( ar, علي الكيمياوي, ʿAlī al-Kīm ...

Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan Watban Ibrahim al-Nasiri ( ar, وطبان إبراهيم الناصري‎; 1952 – 13 August 2015) was a senior Interior Minister of Iraq. He was the half-brother of Saddam Hussein and the brother of Barzan al-Tikriti. He was taken into ...

and

Sabbawi Ibrahim al-Hassan Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti ( ar, سبعاوي إبراهيم التكريتي; 27 February 1947 – 8 July 2013), half-brother of Saddam Hussein, was the leader of the Iraqi secret service, the ''Mukhabarat'', at the time of the 1991 Gulf War. He w ...

.''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'', "Aziz on trial over Iraqi killings role", 30 April 2008, p. 6 On 26 October 2010, he was sentenced to

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

by the

Iraqi High Tribunal The Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT), formerly the Iraqi Special Tribunal and sometimes referred to as the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal, is a body established under Iraqi national law to try Iraqi nationals or residents accused of genocide, crimes aga ...

after being found guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide for organising a crackdown against banned political parties in Iraq in the 1980s and 1990s, including assassinations and unlawful detentions. On 7 June 2012, he was executed by hanging, according to a spokesman of the Iraqi Ministry of Justice.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahmud, Abid Hamid 1957 births 2012 deaths Prisoners and detainees of the United States military 21st-century executions by Iraq Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region politicians Executed Iraqi people People executed by Iraq by hanging Iraqi generals Iraqi people convicted of crimes against humanity Iraqi people convicted of genocide People executed for crimes against humanity Executed mass murderers