Hassans unique code-breaking skills ensured that he kept the Kurdish nation one step ahead of every Baathist troop raid, air raid, assassinations and more. He became a code-breaking legend even among his Baathist foes and they insisted that Hassan attend negotiations between the Kurds and Iraqi generals. He was challenged to break a code there and then and, when he did so, he deciphered the latest Baathist army manoeuvres in the communiqu he had just been handed as his test. The Iraqi general snatched the paper away from him, realising that handing a master code-breaker last nights army orders was not the best move after all!
