◆ SpookStack

mea Baghdad Operations Center with Hussein, especially party members who had been tortured by the previous regime and wanted revenge. A dialogue ensued and Hussein said that he, too, had been tortured. Eventually, an agreement was made that there would be no bloodshed. As evidence that this decision was honored, Hussein pointed out that the Ba'athists did not harm President Abdul Rahman Aref, but just expelled him. Additionally, he advised that his party made a decision to release prisoners from all parties including nationalists and communists. Concerning Colonel Da'ud and Colonel Nayif, Hussein related that they chose not to harm them either, but simply to expel them. D4 When asked about Colonel Da'ud's role in the military, Hussein stated that it was Abu Haitham (Ahmad Hassan Al-Bakr) who had a stronger voice than Da'ud, who had no real voice. -tS} Hussein advised the Presidential protection, the Republican Guard, consisted of three divisions: Armored, Infantry and Special Forces. Colonel Da'ud's responsibility was not to clash or fight with the Armored Division. This was his only role. Hussein said, "We controlled the Armored Division; I commanded a tank and fired on the Presidential Palace." He said, "Practically, we could have done without both Da'tud and Nayif." YX) Hussein stated, "We got news in the afternoon before the attack that Nayif was offering to join the revolution. Apparently, Da'tud had told him about our plans even though we had told Da'ud to keep our plans a secret. As a result, several members wanted to postpone our plans. At the first stage of the revolution, we discovered that Nayif and Da'ud had been planning among themselves and that they had been contacting other officers outside our line of communication. So, we took removed them on 31 July. It was me who led the operation." PS According to Hussein, Da'ud was sent to Jordan on a military assignment. Hussein added, "We could have taken him anytime. I went to Nayif with a gun; I didn't have an automatic weapon. With one gun, I took all the weapons from Nayif and his staff." Since Da'ud was serving with a military corp in Jordan, Hussein sent Ba'ath members to arrest him and bring him back to Baghdad. "However, he said that Da'ud and Nayif "were like a knife in our back." SECRET 3