7 Václav Havel 7

1990, becoming the country’s first noncommunist leader
since 1948. As the Czechoslovak union faced dissolution
in 1992, Havel, who opposed the division, resigned from
office. The following year he was elected president of the
new Czech Republic. His political role, however, was lim-
ited, as Prime Minister Václav Klaus (1993– 97) commanded
much of the power. In 1998 Havel was reelected by a nar-
row margin, and, under his presidency, the Czech Republic
joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in

1999. Barred constitutionally from seeking a third term,
      he stepped down as president in 2003.
      Havel’s first new play in more than 20 years, Odcházení
      (Leaving)—a tragicomedy that draws on his experiences as
      president and presents a chancellor leaving his post while
      grappling with a political enemy—premiered in 2008.

s·adda ̄ m h·ussein
(b. April 28, 1937, Tikrīt, Iraq—d. Dec. 30, 2006, Baghdad)

A

s president of Iraq (1979 –2003), S·addām H·ussein’s
rule was marked by brutality as well as costly and
unsuccessful wars against neighbouring countries.
S·addām H·ussein al-Tikrītī was born into a peasant fam-
ily in northern Iraq. He joined the Ba‘th Party in 1957. In
1959 he participated in an unsuccessful attempt by Ba‘thists
to assassinate the Iraqi prime minister, ‘Abd al-Karīm
Qāsim. Wounded in the attempt, S·addām escaped, first to
Syria and then to Egypt. He attended Cairo Law School
(1962– 63) and continued his studies at Baghdad Law
College after the Ba‘thists took power in Iraq in 1963. The
Ba‘thists were overthrown that same year, however, and
S·addām spent several years in prison in Iraq. He escaped,
becoming a leader of the Ba‘th Party, and was instrumental
in the coup that brought the party back to power in 1968.