Hussein al-Qasab

**Hussein al-Qasab** is a Qarwati politician and the incumbent President of Qarwat. He has been in office since 1986.

## Early Life

Hussein al-Qasab was born in the village of Ad Diwasra on 13 July 1944 into a poor shepherd family. In school, al-Qasab was an abysmal student, and was repeatedly threatened with expulsion. Dropping out at 14, he quickly joined a local street gang. Thereafter, al-Qasab was arrested on numerous occasions for a variety of petty crimes. When Hussein's father died of lung cancer in 1961, his mother sent him to live with his Uncle Zakariya in the capital, Zadiyah. She prayed her brother could help turn his life around.

A staunch Arab nationalist, al-Qasab's uncle brought him to meetings of the fledgling National Patriotic Front and secured him a job at the party office. Hussein utilized his criminal skills to become the party's chief enforcer. He extorted money from local businesses and terrorized the opposition. During this time, al-Qasab also developed contacts in the nation's armed forces. Greatly impressed by his performance, party chairman Khalid al-Hashimi appointed Hussein to the ruling Executive Committee in 1967.

## Rise to Power

Soon after his appointment to the Executive Committee, al-Qasab was tasked with reorganizing the party's Security Bureau. Hussein staffed the bureau with many of his former gang associates. After a failed attempt on Khalid al-Hashimi's life in 1968, al-Qasab spearheaded the investigation. Suspects were kidnapped, interrogated, and tortured by the bureau. Several were later found dead. Despite an outcry from their families, the police ultimately ruled their deaths suicides. In the wake of the incident, al-Qasab, much to his amusement, was labeled the *Butcher of Zadiyah* by the media.

The National Patriotic Front, backed by al-Qasab's contacts in the military, staged a successful coup d'état in 1972. Khalid al-Hashimi assumed the office of President and appointed al-Qasab Minister of State Security. He oversaw the immediate seizure of all newspapers, as well as all radio and television stations. Within months of the coup, thousands of academics, dissidents, and opponents were exiled, imprisoned, or killed. Hussein's brutality terrified many within the Executive Committee, and some senior party officials implored al-Hashimi to dismiss him. Their pleas were ignored.

After suffering a stroke in 1979, President al-Hashimi's health deteriorated. As his condition worsened, he became increasingly isolated and paranoid. Seizing the opportunity to advance his stature, al-Qasab warned al-Hashimi of a fictional plot devised by Vice President Ibrahim al-Ghawi to assassinate him. At a meeting of the Executive Committee a week later, a visibly frail al-Ghawi read a statement admitting his guilt and indicting several cabinet members and other party and state officials. After the accused were removed from the room, al-Hashimi named al-Qasab his new Vice President.

## Presidency

With al-Hashimi seeking medical treatment in Egypt, al-Qasab further consolidated his power. He assumed the majority of the President's responsibilities. When al-Hashimi died in 1986, al-Qasab had been Qarwat's de facto leader for several years. After his ascension to the Presidency, a personality cult developed around al-Qasab. His portraits and statues soon adorned nearly every public space.