Sulṭān Hāshim Aḥmad Muḥammad al-Ṭāʾī (; 1945 – 19 July 2020) was an Iraqi

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent c ...

, who served as

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

under

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

's regime. Considered one of Iraq's most competent generals, 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

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

and later in the

Persian Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, 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 Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' 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 (; 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 2000. He was also in charge of the Republ ...

’s handling of the

Iraqi Republican Guard The Iraqi Republican Guard () was a branch of the Iraqi military from 1969 to 2003, which existed primarily during the presidency of Saddam Hussein. Initially a praetorian guard unit tasked with the sole purpose to protect the president of ...

, saying Qusay “knew nothing bout commanding military 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 (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

' list of most wanted former Iraqi officials. On 19 September 2003, after nearly a week of negotiations, he gave himself up in

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).

Dawood Bagistani David Dawood (born 31 December 1981), known professionally as DaWood, is an English DJ/producer and songwriter. He is best known for producing and co-writing the song "Good Times" by Roll Deep, which was a number one on the UK Singles Chart fo ...

, who arranged the surrender to Maj. Gen.

David Petraeus David Howell Petraeus (; born 7 November 1952) is a retired United States Army General (United States), general who served as the fourth director of the Central Intelligence Agency from September 2011 until his resignation in November 2012. Pri ...

, 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. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

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 Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

-style attacks that were taking a toll on American soldiers. Many of the attackers were 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 (; ; 1933 – 3 October 2017) was an Iraqi Kurdish politician who served as the sixth president of Iraq from 2005 to 2014, as well as the president of the Governing Council of Iraq. Talabani was the founder and secretary-gene ...

. In May 2018, Iraq's Parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri requested a pardon for Sultan al-Tai, citing medical reasons. He then was transferred from the prison in

Nasiriyah Nasiriyah ( , ; , BGN: , ), also spelled Nassiriya or Nasiriya, is a city in Iraq, the capital of the Dhi Qar Governorate. It lies on the lower Euphrates, about south-southeast of Baghdad, near the ruins of the ancient city of Ur. Its po ...

to a prison in Baghdad.

Death

Sultan al-Tai died on 19 July 2020 from a heart attack in the

Nasiriyah Central Prison Nasiriyah Central Prison (), also known as al-Hoot prison (), is a maximum security prison near Nasiriyah in the Dhi Qar Governorate of Iraq. It is the largest prison in southern Iraq. History The prison was built at a cost of roughly $49,000,0 ...

References

External links

''Guardian'' website

From Ally to Adversary

Ex-Saddam defense minister set to be executed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tai, Sultan Hashim Ahmad 1945 births 2020 deaths Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region politicians Ministers of defence of Iraq Governors of Nineveh Governorate Iraq War prisoners of war Iraqi generals Iraqi military personnel of the Iran–Iraq War Iraqi people convicted of war crimes Iraqi people convicted of crimes against humanity Iraqi prisoners of war Iraqi prisoners sentenced to death Kurdish genocide perpetrators People from Mosul Prisoners sentenced to death by Iraq Prisoners who died in Iraqi detention Tulfah family