Uday Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti (Arabic: عُدي صدّام حُسين) (18 June 1964 – 22 July 2003) was the eldest son of Saddam Hussein from his first wife, Sajida Talfah, and the brother of Qusay Hussein. Uday was for several years seen as the heir apparent of his father; however, Uday lost his place in the line of succession due to injuries sustained in an assassination attempt, his erratic behavior and his troubled relationship with his father and brother. Following the United States-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, he was killed along with his brother by a secretive combined Special Operations Task Force during a 6-hour gunfight in Mosul.
Uday produced the newspaper Babel and a local Iraqi TV channel called "Al-shabab TV". He was briefly married to the daughter of Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri, who was Vice President and Deputy Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, but he later divorced her.
Uday Saddam was born in Tikrit to Saddam Hussein and Sajida Talfah while his father was in prison.
Uday graduated from high school with very high marks. He started his University days in Baghdad University College of Medicine. He only lasted in the Medical College for three days, so he moved to College of Engineering about a kilometer away. Uday earned a degree in engineering and graduating from Baghdad University, ranking No. 1 in a class of 76 students. However, some of his professors have testified he barely squeezed by on many courses, mainly using his status as Saddam's son to get high marks.
Although his status as Saddam's elder son made him Saddam's prospective successor, Uday fell out of favour with his father. In October 1988, at a party in honour of Suzanne Mubarak, wife of then-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Uday murdered his father's personal valet and food taster, Kamel Hana Gegeo, possibly at the request of his mother. Before an assemblage of horrified guests, an intoxicated Uday bludgeoned Gegeo, reputedly administering the coup de grâce with an electric carving knife. Gegeo had recently introduced Saddam to a younger woman, Samira Shahbandar, who later became Saddam's second wife. Uday considered his father's relationship with Shahbandar an insult to his mother. He furthermore feared losing succession to Gegeo, whose loyalty and fidelity to Saddam Hussein was unquestioned.
