Thursday, December 18, 2003
Saddam removed from list of descendants of Mohammed
Agence France-Presse Baghdad, December 18
The name of Saddam Hussein has been removed from the list of descendants of Prophet Mohammed, the head of the union of Ashrafs, who guard the genealogical tree, told AFP on Wednesday.
Al-Sherif Najeh Mohammed Hassan Al-Faham Al-Aaraji admitted that the ousted dictator had been able to cheat despite the great value and honour attached to the line which is guarded in Baghdad.
"Saddam had forced the origin experts to falsify his genealogical tree so that it went back to the Prophet," he said.
"We will inform all the experts, and particularly those who yielded to Saddam and agreed to falsify his genealogical tree. But the real trusted experts are very few in number and all refused," he added.
Aaraji showed AFP a photo of Saddam's tree including a large book of origins which go back to the imams Hassan and Hussein, sons of the imam Ali bin Abi Taleb by his wife Fatima, a daughter of the Prophet.
The cancellation of Saddam's noble lineage was decided three days after his capture by the US forces on Saturday night near Tikrit, in northern Iraq.
The Ashrafs' union was set up after the fall of the old regime on April 9 by the men who under Saddam were part of councils of the sayeds, or lords, descending from Hassan and Hussein.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003.