 |
| Raghad Hussein |
Raghad Saddam Hussein is the daughter of one of the most notorious dictators in the world, and a woman who has openly pledged her support for ISIS.
She was also ranked number 16 on the American's most-wanted list in 2007, while her mother was number 17.
Both times, the Jordanian royal family refused to give her up.
But that doesn't mean that she doesn't have an eye for design, as she hopes to prove with her new jewellery range - complete with pieces inspired by her despot father, as well as the husband he had murdered.
Sold in one of Jordan's finest jewellery stores, the rings, bracelets and necklaces even feature a £1,000 pendent in the shape of Iraq.
 |
A snake bracelet in GOLD and silver and Raghad's favourite piece as 'it was done as a model for my work'. The letter L, she explains, can be changed upon request
|
 |
A falcon ring, to represent 'simple of strength and beauty', and a 'special ring, to be given to the best the most precious people in our lives'
|
Raghad is Saddam's oldest daughter. By the time she was ten years old, Saddam was president of Iraq - a position he would hold until she was forced to flee in 2003.
Raghad - who is said to be an avid reader of Hello! magazine - had her first child, a boy named Ali, by the age of 16, having married Hussein, then supervisor of Saddam's Republican Guard, in 1983.
By the age of 26, she had had four more: boys Saddam and Wahej, and girls Haris and Banan.
She is, by all accounts, a woman used to the finer things in life: her extravagent lifestyle while living in Jordan has raised some eyebrows.
Her love of designer labels is legendary: she is said to pay for Gucci handbags and £400 Sergio Rossi boots with a thick wads of crisp US dollars.
And while she may not practice the overt violence her two older brothers, Uday and Qusay, would become known, Raghad is known for her sharp tongue.
'The store owners are wary of her because she can be a difficult customer and nothing is ever good enough for her,' the Mail's source said in 2006.
'There's a shop in Amman called Boutique de Francais that she goes to frequently where the staff are terrified of her.'
Raghad is also not a woman who is happy to stand in the shadows - something which has upset her wider family at times.
It was Raghad who took the helm of the family after her older brothers' deaths in 2003, securing the lawyers who would fight for her father in court from exile in Jordan.
She became known for her impassioned defence of Saddam, who was captured by American troops in December 13, 2003.
Raghad appeared on television invited the world's press into her home as she continued to defend her father - the man who, just seven years before, had had her husband killed.
'He was a very good father, loving, had a big heart, loved his daughters, sons, grandchildren,' Raghad
told CNN in 2003. 'He was the one we always go to.'
In an interview with The Telegraph the next year, it was revealed her home had been turned into a 'shrine' to him.
'Visitors ushered through the front door by a Filipina maid find themselves staring at a painting of the deposed dictator,' it noted.
It was Raghad who fought to have her father's body buried in Yemen until Iraq was 'liberated' from American forces.
Women who met Raghad at the school gate were also surprised at how openly she spoke of her beloved father.
One revealed to the Mail in 2006: 'I remember telling her that I was taking one of my kids out of the school and moving her to the British international school because she was struggling with English.
'I asked how her children were getting on with English and she said they were doing great.
'Then she said something extraordinary: "Can you really imagine the grandchildren of Saddam Hussein not being able to speak English?".'
Her admiration for Saddam has clearly not diminished in the years since his death, as the jewellery clearly shows.
As for what that might mean for the country of her birth, time will only tell.
'She buys shoes by the sack load,' a woman close to Raghad's tight circle of friends told the Daily Mail in 2006.
But it is not just her clothes Raghad likes to spend money on: she is also famous for her love of plastic surgery, and is said to have had extensive work done with one of the top surgeons in Jordan.
Her daily regime - during which she is chauffeured around - is said to include a trip to the gym, beauty parlour and, of course, the shops.
Indeed, when the news of her father's failed appeal, and imminent execution reached her, she was apparently sat in an Amman beauty parlour awaiting a hot stone beauty scrub.
However, exactly where this money comes from is not known. Some in Jordan - where she has lived as a 'guest' of the royal family since leaving Iraq - believe she is being funded by her hosts, much to their annoyance.
Exactly why the 46-year-old - known as 'Little Saddam', for her similarities to her father - has decided to move into the jewellery business is unclear.
But the boastful interview, in a Jordanian sales brochure, has emerged as new controversy rages over the delaying of the Iraq Inquiry in Britain.
The publication of the Chilcot Report has been delayed until after the British general election in May after those criticised were given the opportunity to respond.
Among the 10-piece collection is a £1,320 turquoise bracelet designed to match one she created from a gift Saddam had given her.
'My dad Saddam Hussein gave me this turquoise many years ago and I kept it safe until three years ago,' revealed Raghad in a sales brochure for her wares.
'I chose to place it in this bracelet and create a similar design for those who like this design and want to keep it.'
And, if the jewellery is an insight into what Raghad values, then there is one other piece which seems to have special significance: a pendant in the shape of Iraq.
'Baghdad is the heart of Iraq. I chose to place a diamond in its place,' she revealed.
Also among the collection - on sale at an exclusive jewellers in Amman, Jordan, her home since the end of the Iraq war - is a pair of earrings Raghad created, originally, for her daughters from a ring her late husband Hussein Kamel al-Majid gave her.
She said: 'I designed this earing for one of my daughters, and it was taken from a ring that my late husband Hussein gave me long time ago. I decided to change to from a ring to an earring and then I created this design for those who like its shape.'
The fact both men are included in this rather nostalgic collection is an odd decision.
After all, Saddam had Hussein killed back in 1996, having promised his son-in-law forgiveness on his return to Iraq after he defected to Jordan in 1995.
Raghad had divorced him days before; it is said he has been edited out of family pictures.
But this is one of many contradictions in Raghad's life.
But recently, it is a more devout image she has been keen to portray to the wider world.
For Raghad has seen a way back to her beloved Iraq - and that way is ISIS, despite the fact she is far from the extremist group's idea of an ideal woman.
Veterans of Saddam's Baathist party are said to see the militants as allies of sorts, and Raghad would very much like to follow in her father's footsteps. Baathists have even been helping ISIS take control of towns in northern Iraq.
She expressed delight after militants captured Tikrit, her father’s hometown, last year, telling Jordanian newspaper Al-Quds: 'These are victories of my father’s fighters and my uncle Izzat Al-Douri.'
It isn't the first time Raghad has been linked to terrorism. In 2010, Interpol issued an arrest warrant, accusing her of funding terrorism in her native Iraq.
 |
Raghad (top centre) has been a vocal defender of Saddam (front, next to wife Dajiba in November 1988) since he was captured, and later executed
|
 |
This £1,320 turquoise bracelet is modeled on one Raghad had made using a precious stone her father gave her as a gift. She said: 'My dad Saddam Hussein gave me this turquoise many years ago and I kept it safe until three years ago'
|
 |
Raghad explains: 'Baghdad is the heart of Iraq. I chose to place a diamond in its place and you can chose to change the location of the stone'
|
 |
Raghad and her late husband Hussein Kamel al-Majid (pictured with Raghad, left) - a man her father had killed
|
 |
Saddam and his family: Raghad is pictured third right, next to her brother Uday (centre). He and Qussay (far right) were both killed in 2003, before Raghad fled with her family to Jordan
|
 |
Raghad has been vocal in her support of ISIS, speaking to a Jordanian newspaper of her 'delight' when the militants took Saddam's home town of Tikrit
|
Ragdad's son Ali, who has been living in exile with his mother in Amman, in Jordan
Culled from Daily mail
