Ḥammādī, Saʻdūn

Sa'dun Hammadi (22 June 1930 – 14 March 2007; Arabic: سعدون حمادي) was an Iraqi politician, writer and economist who held various positions in the Iraqi state, most notably as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1974 to 1983, and later as the longest serving Speaker of the National Assembly under President Saddam Hussein from 1996 until the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Born to a Shi'ite family in Karbala, Hammadi pursued higher education in Beirut and the United States. He began his political career in the late 1940s, when he joined the Ba'ath Party. Hammadi is credited for introducing Ba'athism in Iraq. He rose to prominence after it seized power in Iraq in 1968. Earlier, he served as the Minister for Agrarian Reform and head of Iraq National Oil Company. As the Minister of Oil, he oversaw the nationalization of oil in 1972. In 1974, Hammadi became Iraq's foreign minister, a position he held until 1983, thus surviving Saddam's takeover of power in 1979. As foreign minister, Hammadi made state visits to numerous countries and represented Iraq. He also attended various summits with Saddam. He was briefly the prime minister of Iraq succeeding Saddam from March until September 1991. Saddam had previously been prime minister in addition to being president, but Hammadi was forced out due to his reformist views and was made the Speaker and President of the National Assembly in 1996. He continued to be in that position until the invasion of Iraq. Shortly before the beginning of the war, Hammadi rejected the ultimatum given by U.S President George W. Bush to Saddam. Following the invasion by the U.S-led coalition, he was arrested by the American forces and was kept in detention for several months. After being released, Hammadi left for Lebanon and settled in Qatar, where he worked at a cultural center in Doha. Hammadi engaged in cultural and literary activities and wrote memoirs about his life and career. Due to ageing illness, he died at a hospital in Germany on 14 March 2007, at the age of 76 and his funeral was held in Qatar. Hammadi was a prominent Shi'ite politician in the government of the Ba'ath Party. He earned a doctorate from an American university and was also involved in cultural activities. He was among the more widely published Iraqi Ba'ath Party leaders.