Death of Abed Hamed Mowhoush

Abed Hamed Mowhoush
Native name	عبد حمد مهاوش
Born	(1947-07-19)19 July 1947 Rawa, Iraq
Died	26 November 2003(2003-11-26) (aged 56) Al-Qa'im Detention Centre, Iraq
Allegiance	Baathist Iraq
Service/branch	Iraqi Air Force
Years of service	1969–2003
Rank	Major-general Air vice-marshal
Unit	No.6 Transport Squadron( An-12 )
Commands	Transport and Strategic Airlift Command Eastern Air Command No. 4 Transport Group
Battles/wars	Iran–Iraq War First Gulf War

Abed Hamed Mowhoush (Arabic: عبد حمد مهاوش) was an air vice-marshal believed to be in command of the transport, logistics and airlifting division of the Iraqi Air Force during the regime of Saddam Hussein immediately prior to the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, until his surrender to United States forces on 10 November 2003. He died on 26 November 2003 while in U.S. custody at the Al-Qaim detention facility approximately 200 miles (320 km) northwest of Baghdad, following a 16-day period of detention.

Mowhoush was commissioned as a heavy transport and airlift pilot officer in 1969 and commanded a wing of An-12 and An-26 heavy cargo planes during the Iran–Iraq War. He was in charge of airlifting logistics operations in the Iraqi Southern Air Command during the Gulf War. He was promoted to brigadier/air commodore^{[clarification needed]} rank in 1991 and in 1994 placed in charge of the Eastern Air Command. He was appointed as the commander of the Transport and Strategic Airlifting Command in 1999. He had a total of 3125 hours of logged flying experience on his log from 1969 until 1997 on the An-12, Il-76, and An-26.

U.S. forces initially claimed that Mowhoush had been captured during a raid and that he had died of natural causes, but The Washington Post later reported that he had given himself up in an effort to secure the release of his sons.^[1] In 2005, four U.S. servicemen were charged in relation to the killing.^[2]