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LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Hussein al-Rikaby, a senior opponent of
former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, has died in London after 36 years in
exile, his family said on Monday.
Rikaby, a liberal Islamist, returned to Iraq briefly after the 2003
U.S.-led invasion but refused to stay in protest of what he described as
postwar corruption and lack of justice to the victims of the deposed
Baathist government.
He died of heart disease on Sunday, aged 72.
"His life in the last two years consisted of mere frustration that
hastened his death," his son Ahmad, who head's Baghdad's leading Radio
Dijla, told Reuters.
A wealthy Baghdad merchant and landowner, Rikaby financed opposition
groups inside and outside Iraq. Although he shared a prison cell with Saddam
in 1964, he opposed the Baath party long before it came to power a few years
later.
Rikaby also built regional contacts. In 1988 he was one of the first
outside witnesses to enter Halabja after Iraqi forces hit the Kurdish town
with chemical weapons, killing thousands.
former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, has died in London after 36 years in
exile, his family said on Monday.
Rikaby, a liberal Islamist, returned to Iraq briefly after the 2003
U.S.-led invasion but refused to stay in protest of what he described as
postwar corruption and lack of justice to the victims of the deposed
Baathist government.
He died of heart disease on Sunday, aged 72.
"His life in the last two years consisted of mere frustration that
hastened his death," his son Ahmad, who head's Baghdad's leading Radio
Dijla, told Reuters.
A wealthy Baghdad merchant and landowner, Rikaby financed opposition
groups inside and outside Iraq. Although he shared a prison cell with Saddam
in 1964, he opposed the Baath party long before it came to power a few years
later.
Rikaby also built regional contacts. In 1988 he was one of the first
outside witnesses to enter Halabja after Iraqi forces hit the Kurdish town
with chemical weapons, killing thousands.