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Maumoon Gayyoom and Saddam
Hussein – the horse's mouth 21 Dec 2003
Gayyoom's authorised biography says the Maldivian leader and Saddam became close friends after Gayyoom's visit to Iraq in 1980. In a speech delivered in Cuba in 1979, Gayyoom praised the Iraqi leader's decision to use a surcharge on Iraqi oil to fund loans for friendly developing states like Maldives, but their relationship extended far beyond that of client and donor. When they met in Baghdad the following year, Saddam drove the happy Maldivian leader around the city in a small car, stopping at one point to introduce Gayyoom to a group of schoolgirls. Maumoon was 'intrigued' by the submachine gun Saddam carried in the vehicle, and listened closely to Saddam's advice on how to run an effective dictatorship. Gayyoom applied these horrific methods directly onto helpless Maldivians. 'Saddam took Maumoon aside and told him that to govern the country, he needed to have an organisation. In Iraq, he said, there was a single party with power, the Arab Baath Socialist Party. It was only through the one-party system that he was able to govern effectively. Following that visit, Maumoon developed a close friendship with Saddam Hussein.' A Man for All Islands, by Royston Ellis,
1998. (p.147)
Saddam's attack on Iran, the horrors of the brutal eight years of the Iraq-Iran war, and Saddam's use of western-supplied chemical weapons on Iranian forces and fellow Iraqis, did not diminish Gayyoom's admiration for the ruthless Iraqi ruler. When it came to a choice between an Islamic republic and Baathism, Gayyoom was more comfortable with the godless Baathists. Like Saddam, Gayyoom has used Islam as a tool to manipulate and control his people, not as a guide for equitable national policies. Neither Saddam nor Gayyoom believe in Allah. Saddam's head began touching mosque floor tiles in 1990 to garner popular Arab support when the first US attack was imminent, and Gayyoom also uses prayer as a PR exercise photographed for the whole country to notice. Saddam's former mistress told the US ABC 20/20 program that the Iraqi dictator believed only in himself, and Gayoom is the same. There is no evidence of Islamic ethics in any of the Maldivian dictator's ruling methods and policies. Lack of true religious feelings does not prevent Gayyoom from wanting the public to believe he is semi-divine. People are not charged with blasphemy (a serious offence in Maldives) when they call him Kuda Kuda Kalaan'ge, ('little little god', referring to his physical size). Some islanders actually believe he is third is the holy hierarchy - first Allah, followed by Muhammad and then Gayyoom. Although Maumoon supported Saudi Arabia and condemned Saddam's invasion of Kuwait in 1990, his close friendship with the Iraqi remained. Gayyoom bought arms from Saddam and was happy to boast of his relationship with the Iraqi dictator to his biographer, Royston Ellis, in the mid-1990s. Ellis seems to have been surprised by the candid nature of some of Gayyoom's remarks during the book's preparation. Before publication in 1998, the author showed Gayyoom his first draft: 'I had expected contentious anecdotes to be toned down,' wrote Ellis, 'but Maumoon and his staff were anxious that I should detail every event with complete accuracy. More files were opened for me, more clues uncovered, and more background revealed.' (p.248) Many senior Maldives National Security Service (NSS) officers have trained in Iraq, and after the war with Iran, the NSS received a number of shipments of weapons codenamed 'basaraa kadhuru' (dates from Basra). The weapons were cleared through customs by the NSS and carried on their shoulders from the aeroplane to the Hulhulé jetty and onto Coast Guard vessels. They were stored in the NSS armoury at Ban'deyri Koshi in Malé. The weapons had been used in the Iran-Iraq war and were either seized from enemy POWs or used by dead Iraqi soldiers. The NSS spent months cleaning the rifles to remove blood and stains. The exporters had sent weapons numbered in Arabic with white marker pens using Iraqi army serial numbers. These guns are still used in Maldives for training, and may have been used to shoot prisoners on September 20 at Maafushi prison. Many Maldivian correspondents to this website have commented on the similarities between Gayyoom and Saddam, and the evidence is overwhelming that Gayyoom has allowed himself to be guided strongly by the personal advice and public example of his murderous Iraqi friend. Gayyoom's preference for rule by fear and intimidation, and merciless treatment of any disobedience or public criticism, mirrors the vicious paranoid behaviour of Saddam. The phonetapping techniques and technology employed by the NSS were imported from Iraq, which in turn had learnt these techniques from the East German Stasi secret police. The system of forcing people to sign confessions that can be used against them, should the need arise in the future, has become common in Maldives. This practice was perfected by Joseph Stalin and then the Stasi and imported into Iraq by Saddam. It was then adopted by Gayyoom and his NSS. These confessions are signed by almost every Maldivian government worker at some time in their lives. Gayyoom's favourite bodyguard, former STO clerk and now Chief of NSS Staff, Mohamed '22' Zahir, had to confess to alcohol consumption. Mohamed Zahir and two other NSS officers signed confessions and apologised to Ilyas Ibrahim (then Minister of Defence) after drinking in public and insulting the Minister of Construction Umar Zahir. Another NSS officer, Karo Abbas refused to apologise to Ilyas because, Karo said, drinking was a sin and therefore apologies were due to Allah alone. Karo was imprisoned after the 1988 attempted coup despite the fact he was in exile at the time. Written confession, public contrition and fear of punishment are important parts of all Maldivians relationships with the Gayyoom clans. Should they ever upset their leaders, the case against them is ready-made. Contrary to the example set by Prime Minister Kilegefaan and President Ibrahim Nasir, Gayyoom copied Saddam and appointed his family members and friends to the most powerful posts in Maldives. Gayyoom is probably the world record-holder for nepotism. The Guinness Book of Records gave that title to Saddam with six family members holding important offices. Maumoon's close relatives currently hold eight high level positions. An examination of the backgrounds and activities of the ministers, Majlis members and NSS supremos leaves no doubt that loyalty and obedience are far more important to Gayyoom than competence. Gayyoom has allowed his fawning brother, Abdullah Hameed, to be the second most powerful man in Maldives and ignored his alleged illegal sexual behaviour. Such alleged acts would mean long jail sentences for any ordinary Maldivian. Gayyoom has imitated the lavish lifestyle Saddam once enjoyed, despite the lack of easy money from oil revenues in Maldives. Gayyoom's private palace, personal island resorts at Arah island north of Malé and on Meemu atoll, his grand presidential office and his private yacht have all been paid for from government funds, while over 40% of Maldivians live in abject poverty. Unlike Saddam, Gayyoom is not scared to leave the country, and his junkets overseas, accompanied by numerous officials and family members, have been a colossal waste of public money. Like Saddam, Maumoon Gayyoom has cynically used religion to delude and confuse his people, to the extent that Baathism is now synonymous with Islam in many Maldivian minds. Brutal killings, torture and intimidation are excused as necessary for national preservation, and portrayed as proof of the victims' guilt. Imitating Saddam's culturally destructive tactics, Gayyoom has crushed all intellectual life in his country, maintaining absolute control over the Maldives media. Not a single novel worth reading has been published in Maldives since he took over, and no new Maldivian history has been allowed in the country's bookstores. Historians and writers have been intimidated and, if necessary, tortured and jailed. All learned books published overseas about Maldives society and politics have been suppressed and banned within the country itself. This creates an identity vacuum which is filled by the dictator's publicity machine. As with Saddam, Gayyoom's personal expenses and displays are more important than public services. 'Praise Gayyoom' ceremonies inspire more administrative energy than health or education needs. Just as Saddam once did, Gayyoom projects a strong family man image to the public at the same time as his NSS brutalises Maldivian families without any legal restraints. Both men prefer the company of people who worship them and keep critical associates to a minimum. One thing Gayyoom has not imitated is Saddam's love of statues. Many Maldivians have a superstitious fear of 'budhu' (statues). However, Maumoon has compensated for this cultural restriction with larger than life photos. No election meeting in Maldives is complete without a huge photograph of Maumoon who, even in high heels, stands not much more than 5 feet above sea level. His photos, like his ego, have increased in size over the years and airbrushing has kept wrinkles at bay. The deaths of Saddam's brutal sons at the hands of the US military, were treated as royal assassinations by the influential Haveeru and Huvaas publications in Maldives. The Dhivehi reports of the deaths of these two psychotic gangsters, used royal suffixes with their names accompanied by the Saddam regime's PR photos of them joking, smoking cigars and carrying guns. The same Dhivehi royal suffixes are also used to describe Gayyoom and his family, even though neither Gayyoom nor Nasreena have any connections with the traditional Maldive aristocracy. Maumoon ordered Maldivian scholars to research his ancestry and made strenuous efforts to find a royal ancestor. As Gayyoom's mother was from southern Maldives where the deposed Dhiyamigily king's son was exiled, Gayyoom thought he may be related to Mohamed Ghiyathuddine. After coming to power in 1978, he ordered mosques and schools built in the deposed sultan's honour. Supremely confident of discovering a royal connection, he ordered genealogical research into his family history. It turned out that his predecessor Ibrahim Nasir was a descendant of Ghiyathuddines, not Maumoon. The ancient sultan no longer enjoys the status he once had in Gayyoom's Maldives. Maumoon was also disappointed to discover his male line was founded by a slaver from Zanzibar in the eighteenth century. He has never forgiven Maldivian historians for their disturbing honesty. Gayyoom's father, Maafaiygey Dhon Seedhi, was a clerk to the court living in the middle-class Malé suburb of Machchangolhi, and his mother, Khadheeja Moosa, was initially a servant woman in her future husband's house. She came from Huvadhu atoll. Thulhaadhooge Nasreena Ibrahim, Gayyoom's wife, was born in a once lowly suburb of Malé which even the old royal koli town criers avoided. |
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Maldives Culture is an independent internet magazine of Maldive cultural issues.
Editors and translators: Michael O'Shea and Fareesha Abdulla, Australia
We invite contributions from Maldivians and others interested in Maldives.
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