Watban Ibrahim al-Tikriti

Who is Watban Ibrahim al-Tikriti?

Watban Ibrahim al-Tikriti, half brother of Saddam Hussein, brother of Barzan, is a former senior Interior Minister of Iraq. He was taken into coalition custody 13 April 2003, following his capture as he was attempting to flee into Syria.

As the half brother of Saddam, Ibrahim was a close advisor to Saddam, being a member of his inner circle whilst also holding several high-profile security apparatus roles. In those roles, it is alleged that he took part in the Al-Anfal Campaign against the Kurds in Northern Iraq. He was given the job of Interior Minister in 1991, and in that role he is accused of having overseen the detention, torture, and executions of hundreds of prisoners. Some of those executions were reportedly taped with copies kept at the ministry. In this role he also was involved in suppressing the 1991 uprisings in Iraq, specifically in the Baghdad suburbs of Thawra, Shu'la, Hurriya' Bayya', the village of Yousiffiya and the nearby districts of Mahmoudiya. Government suppression of the uprising in these districts often involved mass executions.

He is a member of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party. Despite his high-profile roles, he was believed to not have been fully trusted by Saddam. In 1995, he was shot nine times in the leg by Uday Hussein, reportedly during an argument over Watban's growing popularity among the people. He reportedly lost his leg, genitals, and part of his stomach as a result of this incident. In the aftermath of this event, Saddam ordered Watban to a position of relative obscurity in Tikrit.