A library photo of Izetbegovic, one of the figures who lost their lives in 2003

PARIS, December 25, (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Six days away from saying farewell to 2003, the world will remember those who passed away leaving a good or bad memories for many to revive till the rest of their lives.

Alija Izetbegovic, the former hero of Muslim resistance during the siege of Sarajevo who led his country to independence from communist Yugoslavia and a Serbian general accused of war crimes against Muslims during the same war breathed their last in the year.

The Palestinian intellectual Edward Said and the well-known Palestinian poetess, Fadwa Tuqan are also no longer with us.

The list is long, but what attracts attention more is the rising number of those who lost their lives either through being killed or committing suicide, or in connection with Anglo-American invasion of Iraq.

The sons of the ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, Uday and Qusay, come at the top of this list in addition to the top U.N. envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the British weapons expert David Kelly and Aqila al-Hashimi, the member of the U.S.-installed interim governing council.

Hereafter a list with the most prominent figures who left the world during the year 2003 arranged by time serial according to the Agence France-Presse (AFP) statistics.

JANUARY:

January 5: Roy Jenkins, 82, Former Labor Chancellor and Home Secretary. the president of the European Commission between 1977- 1981.

January 11: Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri, 76, former Argentine dictator.

January 24: Giovanni Agnelli, 81, head of Italy’s Fiat motor company. Italian Senator.

FEBRUARY:

February 4: Yousef Bin Khadda, 82, the head of interim government in Algeria during Algeria war.

February 18: Isser Harel, 91, founding father of the Mossad and a historic figure in the Israeli Intelligence World.

February 25: Alberto Sordi, 83, the Italian theater writer.

MARCH:

March 12: Zoran Djindjic, 50, the prime minister of the Republic of Serbia, mastermind of the overthrow of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

APRIL:

April 17: John Paul Getty II, 70, U.S. born British billionaire.

April 21: Nina Simone, 70, American jazz and soul singer famed for her

civil rights songs defending the rights of the black.

April 29: Janko Bobetko, 84, Croat 'war crimes' general, the most senior Croatian officer sought by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

MAY:

May 2: Mohammed Dib, one of Algeria's best-known writers and poets who wrote in French

May 5: Walter Sisulu, 90, a central leader in the African National Congress and anti-apartheid leader in South Africa.

May 12: Sadruddin Aga Khan, 70, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees

May 28: Momir Talic, 60, a Bosnian Serb general indicted for genocide and crimes against humanity by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

JUNE:

June 5: Meir Wilner ,85, the Israeli Communist leader, one of the signers on the declaration of establishment of state of Israel.

June 10: Donald Regan, 84, former U.S. Treasury Secretary and chairman and chief executive of Merrill Lynch & Co.

June 12: Gregory Peck, 87, American Oscar winner actor.

June 23: Maynard Jackson Jr., 65, Atlanta's first black mayor.

June 29: Katharine Hepburn, 96, the American actress.

JULY:

July 8: Ladan and Laleh Bijani, 29, Iranian conjoined twins.

July 18: David Kelly, the British government scientist and Iraq weapons expert at the British Defense Ministry.

July 22: Uday, 39, and Qusay, 37, sons of the ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

July 30: Foday Sankoh, 70, rebel leader in Sierra Leone.

AUGUST:

August 16: Idi Amin, 78, former Ugandan dictator who ruled Uganda between 1971 and 1979.

August 19: Sergio Vieira de Mello, 55, the top U.N. Secretary envoy in Iraq.

August 24: Amina Rizk, 93, the Egyptian Actress.

August 30: Charles Bronson, 81, American actor.

SEPTEMBER:

September 9: Edward Teller, 95, U.S., Hungarian born physics scientist 'father of the H-bomb, Influential in America's defense and energy policies, championing the development of the atomic and hydrogen bombs, nuclear power and the Strategic Defense Initiative.

September 11: Anna Lindh, 46, Swedish Foreign Minister.

September 25: Edward Said, 67, Palestinian writer and intellectual.

September 25: Aqila al-Hashimi the member of the U.S.-installed interim governing council.

OCTOBER:

October 5: Yukichi Chuganji, 114, world's oldest man, Japan.

October 5: Elena Slough, 114, oldest American.

October 14: Mokhtar Ould Dad, 78, Mauritania's first president (1961-1978).

October 19: Alija Izetbegovic, 78, former hero of Muslim resistance during the siege of Sarajevo who led his country to independence from communist Yugoslavia (1992-1995).

October 24: Soong Mei-ling, 105, Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the widow of the Nationalist Chinese president.

NOVEMBER:

November 10: Canaan Banana, 67, Zimbabwe's first black president (1980-1987).

November 10: Mohammed Shokri, 68, Moroccan writer.

November 26: Ayatollah Sadeq Khalkhali, 76, the former Chief Justice of the revolutionary courts.

DECEMBER:

December 12: Heider Aliev, 80, Azerbaijan former president.

December 13: Fadwa Tuqan, 86, ‘Poetess Of Palestine’, a well-known Palestinian poetess.

December 13: Keiko, 27, 'Free Willy' Killer Whale Star.

December 24: Paul Simon, 75, former senator.