Taha Yassin Ramadan

Taha Yassin Ramadan
طه ياسين رمضان
Ramadan in 1998
Vice President of Iraq
In office March 1991 – 9 April 2003 Serving with Taha Muhie-eldin Marouf and Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
President	Saddam Hussein
Preceded by	Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Succeeded by	Ibrahim Jaafari and Rowsch Shaways
Head of the Popular Army
In office 1974–1991
Deputy Secretary of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch
In office 16 July 1979 – September 1991
Preceded by	Saddam Hussein
Succeeded by	Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Member of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch
In office October 1966 – 9 April 2003
Personal details
Born	20 February 1938 Mosul, Kingdom of Iraq
Died	20 March 2007(2007-03-20) (aged 69) Kadhimiya, Baghdad, Iraq
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Political party	Iraqi Regional Branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party

Taha Yasin Ramadan al-Jizrawi (Arabic: طه ياسين رمضان الجزراوي; 20 February 1938 – 20 March 2007) was an Iraqi politician and militia commander, who served as one of the three vice presidents of Iraq from March 1991 to the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.

Career

Proposed resolution to United States–Iraq conflict

Taha Yassin Ramadan with Ben Ali of Tunisia, 1988

Russian president Vladimir Putin meeting with Iraqi vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan in 2001

In October 2002, four months before the United States invaded Iraq, Ramadan suggested U.S. President George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein settle their difference in a duel. He reasoned this would not only serve as an alternative to a war that was certain to damage Iraq's infrastructure, but that it would also reduce the suffering of the Iraqi and American peoples. Ramadan's offer included the possibility that a group of US officials would face off with a group of Iraqi officials of same or similar rank (President v. President, Vice President v. Vice President, etc.). Ramadan proposed that the duel be held in a neutral land, with each party using the same weapons, and with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan presiding as the supervisor. On behalf of Bush, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer declined the offer.

Post-2003

Following the fall of Saddam's government, Taha Yasin Ramadan was placed on the U.S. list of most-wanted Iraqis and depicted as the "Ten of Diamonds" in the US deck of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards. He was captured on August 19, 2003, in Mosul, by fighters of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and handed over to US forces.

He was one of the defendants in the Iraq Special Tribunal's Al-Dujail trial. On 5 November 2006, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. On 26 December 2006, the appeals court sent the case file back to the Tribunal, saying the sentence was too lenient and demanding a death sentence. On 12 February 2007, he was sentenced to death by hanging. His sentence was carried out on the fourth anniversary of US invasion of Iraq, before dawn on 20 March 2007.

Personal life

Ramadan was born to a peasant family in Mosul. Sources have claimed he is of Kurdish origin, while his family has stated he is Arab.