Word: baath
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...spooked Saddam. Last weekend in an apparent bid to soothe popular discontent, Saddam relinquished one of his posts, that of Prime Minister, and named a new 24-member Cabinet. The new Prime Minister, Saadoun Hammadi, formerly deputy PM, is a Shi'ite and, within the context of the ruling Baath Party, is considered a moderate. But the changes are unlikely to convince the Iraqi masses that the regime has truly turned over a new leaf, especially since the ironhanded Interior Minister, Ali Hassan Majid, has kept his job. "The Cabinet is window dressing," says a U.S. government expert on Iraq...
...broadcast address, the dictator went so far as to promise a new constitution, an elected parliament and legal political parties other than his own Baath -- all hard to believe but indicative of how much pressure he feels...
Born in 1940 in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, Majid began his career in the Baath Party's internal-security branch, whimsically called the Instrument of Yearning. Its reputation for rough torture made it the most feared organization in Iraq. Grateful for Majid's help in ridding him of Baathist rivals, Saddam made him Minister of Municipalities. But his real job was to be Saddam's No. 1 enforcer...
...Iraqi standards, the rebels' acts of defiance were extraordinarily bold. Public portraits of Saddam were defiled. Protesters scrawled DOWN WITH THE DICTATOR on walls. Several jails were stormed, and their inmates freed. In Amarah the headquarters of the ruling Baath Party was reportedly torched...
Saddam's ouster or exile would end a bloody chapter in Iraqi history. But the one that follows could be just as sanguinary. In a country that has experienced five coups since 1958, Saddam's 12 years in power are a record. His Baath Party has imposed stability through control of the army and a network of secret police and informers that penetrates every niche of Iraqi society. If that is swept away, simmering tensions between the Shi'ite Muslims (55% of the population), Sunni Muslims (20%) and Kurds (25%) could conceivably erupt into a communal bloodbath, fragmenting the country...