Samir Abdul Aziz al-Najim (Arabic:سمير عبد العزيز النجم; born 1937 inBaghdad)[1] is a formerIraqi politician, who held several senior positions under PresidentSaddam Hussein. He was the Minister for Oil from January to April 2003 and the President's chief of staff for several years after the 1991Gulf War.[2] He also served as the Iraqi ambassador to Egypt, Turkey, Spain and Russia.[3][4]
He was born in 1937 in Baghdad from aSunniArab background. al-Najim was the regional command chairman for theArab Socialist Ba'ath Party for East Baghdad. He was accused by US Army officers of helping Saddam Hussein plot assassination attempts[3] He was convicted in 1959 of the attempted assassination of Prime MinisterAbd al-Karim Qasim and was sentenced to death, although Qassim pardoned Najim.[citation needed]
Following theinvasion of Iraq by theUnited States and allied forces in 2003, he was depicted as thefour of clubs in their deck ofmost-wanted Iraqi playing cards. His assets were frozen underUnited Nations Security Council Resolution 1483 as a "senior official" and transferred to theDevelopment Fund for Iraq.[5]
He was captured by Kurdishpeshmerga nearMosul in April 2003.[2] He was held at a prison located inKadhimiya Region. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and confiscation of all his property on October 26, 2016.[6] He was released from prison in April 2023.[7]