Samira Shahbandar

Samira Shahbandar (, born 1946) is an Iraqi former physician and the second wife of Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq from 1979 to 2003.

Early life Shahbandar was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1946 into an aristocratic Baghdad family.

Career Shahbandar was reported to have had careers as a flight attendant and as a physician. She was a teacher.

Personal life Shahbandar was married to Noureddine Al Safi, a pilot and manager of Iraqi Airways. They have two children.

In 1979, Shahbandar met Saddam Hussein, whom she reportedly had a son named Ali with. Saddam's eldest son Uday was reported to have envied him. Saddam Hussein forced her husband to divorce her. Sajida was extremely jealous and angry when she found out about his mistress, and her brother Adnan Khairallah complained. Uday Hussein, Saddam Hussein's son with Sajida, was also angry over his father's mistress, took it as an insult to his mother, and believed that his status as heir apparent was threatened. In October 1988, during a party, Uday Hussein murdered Kamel Hana Gegeo in front of horrified guests. While Saddam Hussein declared that Uday would be tried for murder, Gegeo's parents and Sajida begged that Uday be pardoned.

In 2002, Shahbandar's son from her first marriage, Mohammad Saffi, a resident of New Zealand and a flight engineer with Air New Zealand, was detained in Miami, Florida, US due to lack of a student visa where he planned to undergo flight training.

Depictions Her character was featured heavily in the plot of BBC adaptation of House of Saddam and was played by Australian actress Christine Stephen-Daly. In the drama, Shahbandar is portrayed as a schoolteacher, the occupation of Sajida Talfah.

Possible issue In a 2007 Al Riyadh interview, Ali Al-Nida Husein Al-Omar, chief of the Bejat subtribe of Al-Bu Nasir, was asked about Saddam's son from Samira Shahbandar. The chief replied: