His deteriorating health and his eventual death from leukaemia last week at the age of 59 may have robbed him of an illustrious career of building a post-war Iraq. However, the current U.S. civilian administration would have probably regarded Hamdoon as too close to the former regime to be trusted for any post-war Iraqi position.
Hamdoon, born in Mosul in north Iraq, lived and worked as a Baathist. He joined the party at the age of 15, subsequently becoming part of its command structure. A student of architecture in the 1960s, he used to spend his time distributing party literature and organising meetings for the party.
Once the party took over power in 1968, Hamdoon was all set to go. He was seen as a great asset, worth much more than what he was trained for. However, before he stepped into the international limelight, he served as Director of Cultural Affairs in the Ministry of Information to restore and preserve the rich historical sites in Iraq that date back to Ur and the Ice Age.
Although close to the regime and to Saddam Hussain in particular, he never appeared as an ideologue. Although seen as a pragmatist, his moment was yet to come. For instance, Hamdoon excelled in establishing the Iraqi-American relationship on a new footing from its previous low point in 1967.
In 1983, for instance, he was sent to Washington to oversee the opening of the Iraqi Embassy which had been closed after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war in protest against America's pro-Israeli policies.
The Embassy was opened in 1984 and he become its ambassador. With Iraq in the midst of war with Iran, Hamdoon sought to garner U.S. support for his country and set about increasing his "circle of friends" in Washington. It was said he was well liked by officials in the Reagan administration.
His stay in this position was a hectic but enriching time. "I spend my days talking and listening to people, and my nights and weekends doing the same," he told one commentator who described him as "friendly", "hard-driving", "self-confident" and "adventuresome".
During his tenure, he proved a successful socialite, holding many receptions at his residence in Washington to build acquaintances with leading figures on the American political scene. He tried to build a more dynamic image, both for himself and the country he was representing. In his days in Washington, for instance, he would speak at many functions accompanied by his wife.
In 1986, Hamdoon established what was called the "Iraqi Forum", a lobby of businessmen, academics and oil executives who worked to promote his country's image in the U.S. By 1988 the Iran-Iran war had come to an end and it was felt his energies were needed elsewhere. Hence he was upgraded to deputy foreign minister.
But then Saddam Hussain thought him useful in other ways. After the political gaffe of invading Kuwait, and under international sanctions and isolation, Saddam sought to use Hamdoon as a "trouble-shooter", someone who might be able, through his friends, to persuade Washington to lift UN sanctions which had been imposed on his country in August, 1990.
At the beginning of 1992, Hamdoon was appointed Iraq's ambassador to the UN. It was a difficult time, no longer the easy-going pace of the 1980s. The international environment had become rigid and Hamdoon found himself unstuck. The UN sanctions had begun to bite.
Richard Butler, previous chairman of Unscom, the committee set up to track down Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, resented Hamdoon for trying to bypass him and go directly to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to build support for Iraq.
Never one to give in to the inevitable, he tried to open back-door channels with the Clinton administration, but to no avail. The Clinton administration made it clear that sanctions would not be lifted until the regime of Saddam Hussain goes. Time and again, Hamdoon's diplomatic niceties refused to work as they did a decade earlier.
Indeed, his tenure at the UN failed him. In late 1998, when Iraq kicked out the UN Inspectors, he, together with 18 other ambassadors, were recalled to Baghdad. These two decisions, however, may have proved fateful and led to the ouster of the Baathist regime by a different American administration who chose to blame Iraq for the "climate of terrorism" created after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
Hamdoon was no longer in politics at this time. His health was deteriorating rapidly. In fact, he was in hospital in New York during the U.S. war on Iraq. One diplomat said last week if anybody could have led to the whereabouts of Saddam Hussain, it would have been Hamdoon. He leaves behind a widow and two daughters.
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