In 2002, Uday opened accounts with Yahoo! and MSN Messenger. This created controversy. At the time, the United States had trade sanctions against Iraq. This meant Iraq was not allowed to use American products. By using Yahoo! and MSN Messenger, Uday was violating these trade sanctions.
Uday also built up a large video collection, found in his palace in 2003. Many of the videos showed himself in both public and private situations.
Uday was accused of imprisoning, torturing, and even murdering athletes both men and women. As head of the Iraqi Olympic Committee, when Uday thought players did not play well enough, he ordered them to be tortured or sent to prison. According to many reports, torturers beat and caned the soles of the football players' feet. This caused severe pain without leaving visible marks on the rest of their bodies. Uday reportedly kept scorecards with written instructions on how many times each player should be beaten after a poor showing. One defector reported that jailed football players were forced to kick a concrete ball after failing to reach the 1994 FIFA World Cup finals.
Uday would insult athletes who performed below his expectations by calling them dogs and monkeys to their faces. The Iraqi national football team were seen with their heads shaved after failing to achieve a good result in a tournament in the 1980s. It was widely said that Uday ordered the shaving to punish the players.
Another defector claimed that athletes were dragged through a gravel pit and then put in a sewage tank so their wounds would become infected. After Iraq lost 4–1 to Japan in the quarter finals of the 2000 AFC Asian Cup in Lebanon, goalkeeper Hashim Hassan, defender Abdul Jaber, and forward Qahtan Chatir were labelled as guilty of loss and eventually flogged for three days by Uday's security guards.
Uday was well known for kidnapping young Iraqi girls and women from the streets in order to rape them. Uday was known to go into parties and pick out women whom he would later rape. "Time" published an article in 2003 detailing his sexual brutality.
For example, "Time" reported that in 1998, Uday kidnapped a 14-year-old girl, kept her for three days, and raped her. The girl's father kept complaining, in public, that Uday had raped his daughter. After three months, Uday sent two guards to threaten the girl's father. He also ordered the father to bring both his 14-year-old and 12-year-old daughters to Uday's next party. He told the girls' father: "Your daughters will be my girlfriends, or I'll wipe you off the face of the earth." The man obeyed, and brought both girls to the next party.
"Time" also reported that twice Uday showed up at weddings and took away the bride to rape. The first time, in the late 1990s, after Uday raped the bride, the groom shot himself in the head. The second time, in October 2002, Uday raped the bride, burned her body with acid, and killed her.
Uday was also well known for torturing anyone who disagreed with him. For example, he once beat an army officer unconscious when the man refused to allow Uday to dance with his wife. The man later died of his injuries. Uday also shot and killed an army officer who did not salute him.
Uday was reported to have his own private torture chamber. He used many different ways of torturing people, including an iron maiden.
According to a family friend who spoke to "Time" magazine:
Uday gained millions of United States dollars by running fake corporations and illegally trading with Iran (Iraq's sworn enemy). At this time, the United Nations did not allow Iraq to trade with other countries. By using fake corporations, Uday was able to get around this rule. From Iran, he was able to get almost anything he wanted.
When U.S. troops captured his mansion in Baghdad, they found a personal zoo with lions and cheetahs; an underground parking garage for his collection of luxury cars; Cuban cigars inscribed with Uday's name; and millions of dollars worth of fine wines, liquor, and heroin. They also found an HIV testing kit.
On 22 July 2003, Task Force 20 and the United States Army 101st Airborne Division raided a home in Mosul, Iraq. They surrounded Uday, Qusay, and Qusay's 14-year-old son, Mustapha. They had been told by an Iraqi that Uday and Qusay were in the home.
United States soldiers got Uday to show himself by hot-wiring Uday's Lamborghini. After Uday appeared, a gunfight started. As many as 200 American soldiers, along with OH-58 Kiowa helicopters and an A-10 "Warthog", surrounded and fired upon the house. They killed Uday, Qusay, and Qusay's son. After about four hours of battle, soldiers entered the house and found four bodies, including the Hussein brothers' bodyguard.
Dental records proved that two of the men killed in the house were Uday and Qusay, according to the United States Military. They also announced that the person who gave them the tip about where Uday and Qusay were staying would get a $30 million reward.
The United States Military released graphic pictures of the Hussein brothers' dead bodies. Many people said this was wrong. When criticized, the U.S. Military's response was to point out that these men were no ordinary combatants. The Military also said they released the pictures to prove that Uday and Qusay were dead, and that they hoped this would bring closure to the Iraqi people.
Uday was buried in a cemetery near Tikrit alongside Qusay and Mustapha Hussein. After his execution in 2006, Saddam Hussein was buried in the same cemetery.
That night, and several nights following Uday and Qusay Hussein's death, celebratory gunfire could be heard throughout Baghdad.
Uday has been portrayed in several movies and books. Latif Yahia has written three books about Uday: "I Was Saddam's Son"; "The Devil's Double"; and "The Black Hole". In these books, Yahia says he was forced to be a body double for Uday. "The Devil's Double" was made into a movie, starring Dominic Cooper as Uday. The National Geographic Channel also produced an episode of "Locked Up Abroad" that tells Lahia's story.
Uday was played by Philip Arditti in "House of Saddam."
In his book "Separation of Power", Vince Flynn describes Uday's behavior. In the book, the main character, Mitch Rapp, pretends to be Uday.
Reg Grundy
Reginald Roy "Reg" Grundy (4 August 1923 – 6 May 2016) was an Australian entrepreneur, and media and television mogul. He was one of the pioneers and most successful television businessman in Australia. He was born in Sydney.
He was also the creator of many TV hits starting with game shows like "Wheel of Fortune" and "Blankety Blanks" and later soap operas "Neighbours", "Prisoner", "Sons and Daughters" and "The Young Doctors".
Grundy died at his home in Bermuda on 6 May 2016, aged 92.
Riki Sorsa
Richard Esko "Riki" Sorsa (26 December 1952 – 9 May 2016) was a Finnish pop singer. He started his career in 1974 as the lead singer in the band The Zoo. He represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest 1981 with the song "Reggae OK".
Sorsa died of cancer on 10 May 2016, aged 63.
Anne Jules de Noailles, Duke of Noailles
Anne Jules de Noailles, Duke of Noailles (5 February 1650 - 2 October 1708) was a French nobleman from the House of Noailles. A well regarded military man of his day, he was a general under King Louis XIV of France and was later the subject of a painting by the famous court painter Hyacinthe Rigaud.
Son of Anne de Noailles and his wife, Louise Boyer, he acceded to the title of Duke of Noailles on his father's death in 1678. He was married to Marie Françoise de Bournonville, with whom he had children. One of the chief generals of France towards the end of the reign of Louis XIV, and, after raising the regiment of Noailles in 1689, he commanded in Spain during both the Nine Years' War and the War of the Spanish Succession. He was made a marshal of France in 1693. He died on October 2, 1708.
Anne Jules de Noailles had many children
Guido van Rossum