Yes, absolutely. They don't use English there so the number of es's varies from translation to translation. I meant to standardize all of the occurrances of Yassin with either one or two es's, but I botched it.
>>Yassin/Yasin is a very common name.
I know that, but within a single town like Mosul they feel a kinship with the same name even if they're 20 generations apart.
>>the following early news report: Berg’s aunt ...married to Mustafa al-Muzfar
Yes, I know that too. The al-Whatever names are regional(tribal) names. Sometimes they list just First and Surname, sometimes First and Tribal, and often all three. Frequently it is shortened to just first and tribal due to ignorance of the American/English reporter or editor.
In a larger town like Mozul, the al-Muzfar refers to neighborhood or 'tribe' within Mosul. So by the tribal method, the former dictator's name could have been written as Saddam Al-Tikriti because he was from Tikrit.
Even without the 'tribal' name, another possibility is the use of the mother's family name as a 'middle' name. Hence Saddam's two half brothers (with a different mother) both had a different middle name than his.
The DOD website gave a good description of Iraqi naming conventions on their joker card.
I've been trying to follow up on "Mustafa al-Muzfar" relative to the uncle.
I'm coming up with some interesting hits on Al-Muzaffar.
Chandra Muzaffar, Malaysia.Nothing tied out yet and I'll be gone for a couple days so I won't be able to follow up.
President, International Movement for a Just World (JUST).
http://www.just-international.orgSami al-Muzaffar
Prior dean of the University of Baghdad
Dismissed from position after refusing to abide by an Iraqi Governing Council decision to exclude senior Ba'athists from the university's teaching and administrative staff (Sep 2003)Lieutenant General Mahmud Al-Muzaffar
Appointed “scientific counselor” at the Iraqi embassy in Belgrade in 1997
(Interesting Milosevic connections and alleged Iranian-Iraqi oil smuggling deals)