The late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s widow and first cousin is Sajida Talfah. She is the mother of his three daughters, Rana, Raghad, and Hala as well as his two boys, Uday and Qusay. Talfah is the niece of Khairallah Talfah, Saddam Hussein’s uncle. She was a teacher in a school prior to her forced marriage to the former president. For the most part, the Iraqi people were unaware of her existence because she hardly ever appeared with Hussein in public. However, a number of images and videos of Hussein and Talfah surfaced in the Iraqi media following his marriage to a different woman. These were done to show the public that Hussein’s second marriage had not negatively impacted his family life. The BBC miniseries ‘House of Saddam’ had a scene with Talfah, who is said to currently reside in Qatar. Shohreh Aghdashloo, an Iranian-American actress, portrays her in this film. According to various news reports, Talfah is listed as the 16th most wanted person by the Iraqi government.
Marriage and Family
Saddam Hussein and Sajida Talfah were wed in 1958. Sons Uday and Qusay and girls Hala, Rana, and Raghad made comprised a family of five. While still married to Talfah, Hussein wed Samira Shahbandar in 1986.
Samira was a doctor. This infuriated the latter, and her son Uday also became upset. Uday fatally killed Kamel Hana Gegeo, Hussein’s personal bodyguard who had introduced him to his second wife, at a celebration in honor of the wife of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Adnan, a general in the Iraqi Army, was the brother of Talfah and was allegedly killed in a helicopter crash in 1989. Many people thought that Hussein was afraid of Adnan’s rising reputation and ordered one of his bodyguards to put a bomb in his chopper. Talfah was upset and accused her husband of being involved because she didn’t think Adnan’s death was an accident.
A Later Years
Sajida Talfah is thought to have left for Qatar a few hours before the start of the bombing of Baghdad on March 19, 2003. Hala, her daughter, is thought to have traveled with her. For her husband’s defense in his 2004 trial on charges of war crimes and other offenses, Talfah recruited a defense team.
It was later revealed that she had dismissed the group and replaced them with Khalil al-Duleimi as the only legal advisor. The Iraqi government’s most wanted list now includes Talfah and her daughter Raghad at positions #16 and #17, according to Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, the country’s national security advisor. According to rumors, Talfah supported Sunni Muslim insurgents under Hussein’s rule.
Later, the defense attorney for Hussein argued that Talfah and her daughter weren’t guilty of the accusations made against them. He added that Talfah, who was allegedly receiving medical attention at the time, was living by herself in Qatar and had no communication with anyone, not even the attorneys. Sajida Talfah’s family refuted reports of her demise in 2015.
Estimated Net Worth
Sajida is one of the wealthiest members of her Iraqi family. Our study of Sajida Talfah’s net worth from Forbes, Wikipedia, and Business Insider revealed a $5 million figure.