Profile: Huda - torchbearer of Iraq's Baath Party

Following her father's footsteps, Prof. Huda Saleh Mehdi Ammash joined the Baath party and became a senior member.

Prof. Huda's father, Mehdi Saleh Ammash, was one among a group that led the coup and brought the Baath party to power in 1968. He has held senior positions in the Iraqi government, including defence minister and vice president.

In 2001, Prof. Huda assumed a senior position at the regional command of the Baath party. She is the first and only woman member of the regional command of the Baath party.

As a senior member of the regional command, she has been taking her country's case abroad.

The effect of depleted uranium on Iraqis is not the only example Prof. Huda cites.

The increasing number of Iraqis sick with leukaemia and other cancers is proof of the effects of depleted uranium, used as a weapon against Iraq, Prof. Huda stresses.

She is a professor of Microbiology at the University of Baghdad. Born in 1953 in Baghdad, Prof. Huda obtained her Bachelor of Science in Biology/Microbiology from the University of Baghdad in 1975. She pursued higher studies at Texas University in the U.S. and obtained her masters in microbiology in 1979.

Her overwhelming interest in microbiology made her study further. She joined the University of Missouri at Columbia, Missouri as a PhD student and in 1983 obtained her doctorate in microbiology as a major and biochemistry as a minor specialisation.

Soon after graduation, Prof. Huda decided to pursue a career in academics. In 1975-1976, she worked as a laboratory assistant at the Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Baghdad.In 1983, she became an instructor of microbiology and molecular biology at Baghdad University. In 1990, she was promoted to become assistant professor of microbiology and in 1995 she became a professor.

She also served as dean of the College of Education for Women in the University of Baghdad during 1993-1995 and dean of the College of Science during 1995-1997.

Prof. Huda is a member of more than 60 academic committees worldwide. During 1996, she was a general director and member of the Iraqi Academy of Sciences.

In 2001, she was elected Fellow of the Islamic Academy of Sciences which was established under the patronage of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) as an independent, non-governmental organisation of distinguished scientists and technologists to promote science and technology in the Islamic world.

The U.S. believes Prof. Huda is one among top Iraqi officials in charge of Baghdad's biological weapons programme. Intelli-gence sources in the U.S. think that she has played a major role in renewing the programme tor develop biological weapons. She was one of the scientists UN inspectors wanted to interview.

She has published articles on the effects of depleted uranium, which she says, the U.S. used extensively in its attack on Iraq in 1991. She has done extensive research on the attacks on Iraq which resulted in widespread contamination of the environment.

At one of the many conferences, attended by a European peace delegation, Prof. Huda alleged the U.S. had fired more than one million rounds containing depleted uranium. They used these weapons after Iraqi tanks left Kuwait, retreating back to Iraq.

She further emphasised that the effect of depleted uranium worsened because of the embargo imposed on Iraq. In this respect she said: "The embargo on Iraq is a double crime because it prevents us from taking adequate measures against the consequences of the depleted uranium used by the U.S."

She further explained these effects saying that during the explosion of the balls, uranium oxide is formed. This substance is a white powder that does not dissolve in water. This is why it remains in the environment. It can be inhaled, passing through the lungs in blood circulation and diffuses radioactive rays in the body, she said.

This was not the only incident cited by Prof. Huda. She has rallied against the consequences of this weapon on several occasions. In an interview with Qatari Al Jazeerah satellite TV, she stressed that depleted uranium has caused thousands of cases of cancer.

When countered with the lack of evidence about the possibility of this substance reaching the bone marrow, she drew attention to Iraq's inability to do any analysis of radioactive products since the IAEA does not permit Baghdad to use such material even for medical reasons.

But she pointed out that a Canadian doctor has proved that traces of depleted uranium were present in urine even after eight years . Hence, why shouldn't the substance penetrate to the bone marrow. She then stressed that the increasing number of cancer patients is plausible evidence of the effects of uranium.

Prof. Huda has also played a role in the Iraqi government. In 2001 she was elected head of the Professional Bureau and the Students and Youth Bureau of the Revolutionary Command Council.

She called for lifting sanctions imposed on Iraq saying that the 1991 resolution was completely implemented by Iraq. She quoted article 14 of the resolution stating that if Iraq destroyed its weapons of mass destruction these weapons should be eliminated from the Middle East including Israel.

In her view, the U.S. is accusing Iraq of terrorism, developing weapons of mass destruction and prohibiting the access of inspectors to the country only to pave the way to attack Iraq again. She stressed that the U.S. has not proved these allegations and highlighted that the Baath party's principles are against fundamentalism.

"Our ideology is in contradiction with those of Islamic fundamentalists. It is socialist and progressive. We are not communists, but good friends of the Soviets and Communist parties," said Prof. Huda at the conference, attended by a European peace delegation.

Prof. Huda has defended her country against the U.S.' accusations about Baghdad having links with groups like Al Qaida. She said Iraq has been supervised by the UN under the oil-for-food programme. Transfer of money is restricted and financing such groups - as alleged by the U.S. - is impossible.