Word: clans
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...over the future of the Middle East. That was more the kind of mission relished by his late father Hafez Assad, the stern military commander who ruled Syria for 30 years until his death in 2000. Bashar's humble ambition was to leave politics to others in the clan and become a doctor. In the early '90s he went to London to study ophthalmology. There he courted his wife Asma, a young banker of Syrian origin who is fluent in four languages. When the gangly young man, now 37, rose to power three years ago, many hoped that...
...preliminary indications that the leadership within Tikrit is looking for a way to avoid a coalition frontal attack. Kurdistan Democratic Party Peshmerga guerrillas who say they were operating 5 kilometers outside of Tikrit City report they were approached this afternoon by an emissary from the Sheik of the Juburi Clan, one of the largest tribes in the Tikrit area. The Sheik allegedly sent word to Massoud Basani, the leader of the KDP, that he and his supporters wished to surrender, but would only do so on personal assurances from Basani. The officer who received this message is now heading back...
...piling up outside Diana's home at Kensington Palace. But the outpouring of grief seemed to catch the royal family off guard, and it took almost a week before the Queen declared admiration for her erstwhile daughter-in-law. Yet Diana had left an indelible mark on the Windsor clan. In the days, weeks and years since, the once staid monarchy has continued to strive for that common touch that made Diana the people's princess. --By Anita Hamilton
Saddam long ago learned how to keep power, no matter what the cost. It wasn't just ferocious ambition that drove him from shepherd to dictator by age 42. His Darwinian outlook took root among the clan machinations of his native Tikrit, during the years when Arab nationalism began to flower. Freud would have had a field day with Saddam's tortured relationships with his family, including, Post says, a suicidal mother who tried to abort him. Saddam's father died before he was born, and after his mother married a man who brutalized Saddam, the illiterate 10-year...
...reportedly said. Bush himself has recently been watching a notorious videotape made in 1979 that suggests Saddam personally orchestrated the execution en masse of close party colleagues who had just helped him into the presidency. Ever suspicious of rivals, he filled key posts in his government with family and clan loyalists from Tikrit...