Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash (Arabic: هدى صالح مهدي عماش) (born 29 October 1953) is an Iraqi scientist and academic. Ammash was often referred to as[1] "Mrs. Anthrax" due to her alleged association with an Iraqi biological weapons program.[2][3]
Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Revolutionary Command Council | |
| In office 18 May 2001 – 9 April 2003 | |
| Member of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch | |
| In office 18 May 2001 – 9 April 2003 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 October 1953 Baghdad, Kingdom of Iraq |
| Citizenship | Iraq |
| Alma mater | University of Baghdad (Bachelor's) Texas Woman's University (Master's) University of Missouri (PhD) |
Ammash was number 53 on the Pentagon's list of the 55 most wanted, the "five of hearts" , in the U.S. deck of most-wanted Iraqi playing cards, and the only woman to be featured. She surrendered to coalition forces in May 2003 but was released in December 2005 without being charged.[4]
Life
editShe received her undergraduate degree from the University of Baghdad, followed by a master's in microbiology from Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas. She spent four years at the University of Missouri pursuing a doctorate in microbiology, which she received in December 1983. Her thesis focused on the effects of radiation, paraquat and the chemotherapy drug Adriamycin, on bacteria and mammals.
She was appointed to the Revolutionary Command Council in May 2001. In one of several videos that Saddam released during the war, Ammash was the only woman among about a half-dozen men seated around a table. The videos were broadcast on Iraqi TV as invading forces drew closer to Baghdad: it is not known when the meeting took place or what the significance was of her appearance on camera. She served as president of Iraq's microbiology society and as dean at the University of Baghdad. U.S. officials said she was trained by Nassir al-Hindawi, described by United Nations inspectors as the "father of Iraq's biological weapons program". She conducted research into illnesses that may have been caused by depleted uranium from shells used in the 1991 Gulf War,[5] and had published several papers on the health effects of the war and the subsequent sanctions.[citation needed]
Capture
editAmmash surrendered to coalition forces on 9 May 2003 and was one of two Iraqi women known to be in U.S. custody as of April 2005. The other was the British-educated Rihab Taha, who led Iraq's biological weapons program until 1995.[citation needed]
In August 2005, the American Association for the Advancement of Science called for Ammash to be either sent to trial or released:[6]
Although she has neither been charged with a crime nor brought to trial, the Iraqi scientist remains in prison today, accused by the US Government of being the head of Saddam Hussein's biowarfare programme - a programme of which no evidence has been found.
— AAAS
According to Times Higher Education, "The organisation [AAAS] has not issued the statement lightly. Senior figures including Alan Leshner, chief executive officer of the AAAS, were involved in drawing it up."[6]
Both women were released in December 2005 after they were among those an American-Iraqi board process found were no longer a security threat and would have no charges filed against them.[7] Ammash was also said to be suffering from breast cancer.[8]
Family
editAmmash's father, Salih Mahdi Ammash, was a high-level Baath Party member in Iraq, who became defense minister in 1963, deputy prime minister in 1968, and an ambassador in 1977.[9]
References
edit- ^ Scheer, Robert (28 December 2005). "Dr. Germ and Mrs. Anthrax Set Free". The Nation. Archived from the original on 18 March 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2007.
- ^ "Pentagon vows to probe Saddam photos". CNN. 21 May 2005.
- ^ "Dr Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash was one of the few women in Saddam Hussein's inner circle and the only one on the United States' list of 55 most wanted Iraqi leaders". BBC News. 22 September 2004.
- ^ "The World Today - Iraqi scientists released". abc.net.au. 6 June 2023.
- ^ Janabi, Ahmed (5 January 2005). "Iraqi scientist's health causes concern". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 15 January 2007.
- ^ a b No release from house of cards, "No release from house of cards", timeshighereducation.co.uk. 19 August 2005.
- ^ "US sets Saddam's scientists free". BBC. 19 December 2005. Retrieved 15 January 2007.
- ^ "Iraq's jailed Mrs Anthrax 'dying'". BBC. 1 January 2005. Retrieved 15 January 2007.
- ^ Ghareeb, Edmund A.; Dougherty, Beth K. (2004). Historical Dictionary of Iraq. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-4330-1. Page 12.