Omar Hassan

Omar Hassan was the President of the Islamic Republic of Kamistan during the events of Day 8. He was married to Dalia Hassan, and had a daughter Kayla with her. His brother and close advisor Farhad Hassan was involved in his assassination attempt during Day 8, as was his chief security officer Tarin Faroush. Though the first assassination attempt failed, Hassan was killed by Samir Mehran, and the execution was displayed to the world via an Internet feed.

Personal

 * Wife: Dalia Hassan
 * Daughter: Kayla Hassan
 * Brother: Farhad Hassan (deceased)
 * Significant others: Meredith Reed

Before Day 8
Before coming to power as President of Kamistan, he was a household appliance salesman. At some point Hassan was also a member of the Kamistani Army and served as a general for his country in the Revolutionary Guard. Hassan had also privately advocated a two state solution to the Arab-Israeli issue and denounced terrorist groups before coming to Manhattan for peace talks while being a threat for assassination.

Day 8


President Hassan's goal was to make peace with the United States, the Islamic Republic of Kamistan (IRK), and the United Nations by giving up its nuclear arms programs and terrorist affiliations. During negotiations, United States President Allison Taylor demanded that the inspectors for the Kamistani nuclear program be American, which his brother Farhad Hassan strongly opposed. President Hassan calmly told Taylor that the Kamistani National Assembly will never accept those demands, comparing it to the Kamistani Republican Guard being stationed on American soil. Taylor was impressed with Hassan's civility, and instructed Secretary of State Ethan Kanin to find a way to give Hassan what he wants.

When Farhad revoked clearance for journalist Meredith Reed, who was doing a story on the President, President Hassan told Farhad to give her the clearance back. Hassan and his wife Dalia were going through marriage problems, and Dalia was resentful towards Hassan because of this. When pressured by his brother, Hassan admitted to Farhad that he was having an extramarital affair with Meredith.

His brother Farhad tried to convince him not to give into some of President Allison Taylor's demands in regards to their peace treaty. Farhad also encouraged Omar to end his relationship with Reed so that he would not lose his credibility and faith from the Kamistani people. When Reed was taken into custody as a suspect in contact with the assasin, Omar was shocked and convinced that Reed was not part of the plot. When Reed revealed their relationship to CTU director Brian Hastings, Hastings called Hassan, who confirmed the information, but requested it be kept quiet, and implored Hastings to consider the political ramifications if the affair was made public. It was later revealed that Farhad and Davros conspired to have her take the fall, so they could throw CTU New York off their trail.

President Hassan survived the assassination attempt when Cole Ortiz drove in front of the motorcade to stop President Hassan's vehicle from crossing a sewer that had a bomb planted underneath it. Hassan was then taken to CTU, where he was briefed on his brother's involvement. He also provided some intelligence to Hastings about nuclear rods Farhad may have been dealing with after trace elements of uranium on Davros' corpse sounded a hazardous materials alarm within CTU. Afterward, he expressed interest to return to the United Nations to continue the peace treaty negotiations.

Upon his return to the United Nations Hassan became more paranoid and wary of those around him, reeling from Farhad's betrayal. Hassan authorized a crackdown of opposition within the IRK which resulted in sixty-five top politicians and military officers arrested. He also arrested Jamot, a member of the Kamistani delegation at the UN, and had him sent to the Kamistani Embassy for interrogation only because his cousin was among the opposition members. President Taylor urged Hassan to lay charges against Jamot or release him in order to continue the peace process without controversy, but Hassan rejected the advice.

Hassan's head of security Tarin Faroush advised Hassan that Jamot had denied involvement in the assassination attempt, which prompted Hassan to order the arrest of Jamot's family in order to extract a confession. After Tarin refused to do so, Hassan ordered Nabeel to arrest the family. Hassan also became suspicious of Tarin's refusal to arrest the family, and ordered Nabeel to arrest Tarin for interrogation as well. Hassan was then visited by his daughter Kayla Hassan, who demanded him to release Tarin, alleging that he was one of his most trusted men. Hassan argued that so was his brother, Farhad. After Kayla revealed that she was in a relationship with Tarin, Hassan grew more suspicious of Tarin, thinking that his relationship with Kayla would've been a way to get close to him.



About an hour later, Hassan was called to a meeting with President Taylor, who informed him that they were closing in on Farhad. Taylor requested Hassan to hand over information on all the intelligence agents he had within the United States so Farhad could identify the ones that had betrayed him upon his capture. Hassan suggested her to surrender Farhad to his custody so IRK agents interrogate him. Taylor refused, stating that she had already given Hassan a great deal of latitude to deal with his own nation. Taylor also advised Hassan of the impending nuclear threat against the United States, initiated by his brother's betrayal. She then threatened military action against Kamistan if the nuclear attack materialized. Hassan then reluctantly complied and told her he would order his acting head of security to hand the files to CTU.

Hassan tried to contact Nabeel, who was transferring Tarin to the IRK embassy. However, when he didn't answer, Hassan grew increasingly worried. He then ordered one of his aides to find Nabeel. After some time, Agent Rahim called Hassan after finding Nabeel, who informed Hassan that Tarin had escaped. Nabeel also told Hassan that he had overheard Tarin talking to Kayla on the phone after locking him and the driver in the trunk. Hassan tried to call Kayla to inform her of the nuclear threat, but she didn't answer. When the other delegates started evacuating the United Nations building, Hassan and his delegation decided to stay until Kayla was found. Hassan then called his wife, Dalia, and told her about the situation, urging her to contact Kayla.

Dalia aborted her flight and returned to the United Nations, where Hassan received her. Dalia confronted him on his paranoia, blaming him for Kayla's disappearance. Hassan admitted that he had lost his way and the two embraced. Some time later Jack Bauer called Hassan to inform him that Marcos Al-Zacar had given him information implicating Tarin in the conspiracy against the IRK government. When Dalia finally contacted Kayla, who told her where she was, Hassan relayed that information to Jack.



When Jack and Cole Ortiz arrived at the UN, they talked to Hassan and then set up a command center in his suite. Dalia then received a call from Samir Mehran, who asked to talk to the President. Samir, after calling him a traitor to his own nation, gave him an IP address for CTU to view a live stream of Kayla Hassan about to be tortured by Samir, who was wearing a ski mask. Samir demanded Hassan to hand over File 33 in exchange for his daughter's life. After Samir cut communications, Hassan ordered Nabeel to show Jack and CTU File 33. As they looked, Hassan revealed that File 33 was a collection of confidential documents registering the weaknesses in the US nuclear defenses. When Brian Hastings asked him where he had obtained such highly classified information, Hassan revealed that his nation merely did what any nation under threat would do. Jack remarked that he was not ready to hand over such sensible information to Samir, as that would jeopardize the entire nation and asked Hassan to hand over a decoy file instead to buy time.

Later, Samir contacted President Taylor and revealed that he had the radiological bomb in Manhattan, ready to detonate. Samir stated that is Hassan was not handed over within one hour, he would detonate the bomb. Taylor refused to hand over the President, but a group of her officials secretly plotted to have Hassan turned in, in such a way that they could alleviate the threat, while giving President Taylor plausible deniability. Jack Bauer managed to dispatch most of the team sent to capture Hassan, however, when the only remaining member revealed the deal to Bauer (Hassan had not been aware), President Hassan could not stand the guilt. He took Jack's gun and told the remaining team member to take them to the terrorists, so he could hand himself over.



President Hassan was taken and handed over to Tarin, in exchange for the bomb. While this finally brought the matter of the nuclear rods to a close, it still left President Hassan in a precarious situation. Hassan begged Tarin to turn himself in, promising to vouch for the young man, but he refused the offer. CTU managed to track the car he and Tarin were in, and set up an ambush. However, Dana Walsh, who was working with the terrorists as a mole, alerted Tarin. He went into a parking garage, followed closely by Jack Bauer. Tarin drove off the roof, killing himself in the process. However, Tarin had just prior managed to sneak Hassan into another car, in which he was taken to an apartment where Samir was waiting. Back at Fort McGuire Air Force Base, Taylor discovered the plot against Hassan, and had those involved arrested. She then spoke to Hassan's wife and daughter, assuring them they would do whatever they could to save Hassan. She also consulted her advisers, coming to the conclusion that without President Hassan, there was no hope for a peace settlement.



Samir tortured Hassan for several minutes, trying to get him to admit and apologize for his sins, namely selling out to the Americans. President Hassan held fast however, leaving Samir with no alternatives. He decided to stream the video on the Internet, and would personally read off President Hassan's crimes before executing him. When the stream began, CTU sent a team of Operatives, led by Jack Bauer and Cole Ortiz, to the apartment, with help from Dana Walsh, who had been offered full immunity for her cooperation. Jack stormed the apartment with Renee Walker, with cover from Ortiz. Jack managed to break in and kill the terrorists, right as they were reading off Hassan's crimes.

However, Jack realized, to his horror, that the video was still streaming, having been pre-recorded. He turned around and saw President Hassan, dead, his throat cut. Collapsing to the floor, Bauer called CTU, revealing that the entire deal was recorded, and that Hassan was dead. Jack closed the President's eyes, and apologized for not saving him.

Background information and notes

 * Hassan's death was honored with a silent clock. He is the only non-American character to receive a silent clock for his death.
 * Hassan was the seventh character to die while he was portrayed by a member of the main cast, along with Teri Bauer, George Mason, Edgar Stiles, Milo Pressman, Bill Buchanan and Larry Moss
 * Hassan is the only sitting head of state to be killed on 24. An attempt was made on David Palmer's life at the end of Day 2 7:00am-8:00am, which he survived.  Later, Air Force One was attacked during Day 4 10:00pm-11:00pm while carrying John Keeler, but he survived and was found in a coma, his ultimate fate unknown.  (This was done presumably due to a Fox mandate not to kill a sitting president.)