Page "Saddam Hussein" Paragraph 40

The major instruments for accomplishing this control were the paramilitary and police organizations.

Beginning in 1974, Taha Yassin Ramadan ( himself a Kurd Ba ' athist ), a close associate of Saddam, commanded the People's Army, which was responsible for internal security.

As the Ba ' ath Party's paramilitary, the People's Army acted as a counterweight against any coup attempts by the regular armed forces.

In addition to the People's Army, the Department of General Intelligence ( Mukhabarat ) was the most notorious arm of the state security system, feared for its use of torture and assassination.

It was commanded by Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam's younger half-brother.

Since 1982, foreign observers believed that this department operated both at home and abroad in their mission to seek out and eliminate Saddam's perceived opponents.