Quick Facts
Biography
Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti (Arabic: سبعاوي إبراهيم التكريتي), half brother of Saddam Hussein (27 February 1947 – 8 July 2013), was the leader of the Iraqi secret service, the Mukhabarat, at the time of the 1991 Gulf War. He was the head of the Directorate of General Security from 1991 to 1996, and later served as a presidential advisor to Hussein.
As of 27 February 2005, the date news of his arrest was made public, he held the six of Diamonds position in the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards, and was number 36 on the top 55 most wanted Iraqis list.
He was suspected of being behind explosions and killings that took place after the collapse of the former regime, and a one million dollar reward was offered for information that led to either his capture or death.
Syria turned him over to Iraqi forces after his capture. The Iraqi troops in turn turned him over to U.S forces. Syria has been repeatedly charged with protecting former Iraqi officials, a charge which the Syrian government has always denied.
In March 2009, Ibrahim was sentenced to death by hanging. As his death sentence was read out, he stood up and proclaimed "God is great" and that he was proud to be a martyr. On 8 July 2013 Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti died from cancer.
His son, Ayman Sabawi Ibrahim, was also arrested by the US and was serving a life sentence until his escape from prison on 9 December 2006. His brother Watban Ibrahim al-Tikriti was also sentenced to death. His other brother, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, was executed in 2007.