Former Iraqi premier Al-Zubaidi has died
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Hamza al-Zubaidi has died at a US military hospital in Baghdad, an American military spokesman said today.
Al-Zubaidi, 67, died of heart failure on Friday and the US military is awaiting autopsy results to determine his death, according to Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson.
The US military on Saturday reported the death of an unnamed 67-year-old at the 344th Corps Support Hospital.
Al-Zubaidi, a Shiite Muslim, was a leading member of Saddam Hussein’s once-ruling Baath Party and led Saddam’s forces in central Iraq during the initial stages of the 2003 US-led invasion.
He was linked to the suppression of a Shiite uprising in southern Iraq following the 1991 Gulf War that freed Kuwait from Iraqi occupation.
He was also in charge of Iraqi forces in Kirkuk during the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war.
The military statement said the deceased’s remains will be transferred to the family upon completion of an autopsy.
