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| Sunday, 03 August 2003 |
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Saddam daughter tears recalling betrayal in final hours DUBAI, Saturday (Reuters) Two of Saddam Hussein's daughters sent an emotional message to their fugitive father, telling him they love him dearly and pray for God to protect him in his ordeal. "I want to tell him that I miss him greatly and may God help him in his ordeal," Saddam's eldest daughter Raghd told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television in a lengthy interview. Her sister Rana told CNN through an interpreter: "It's very hard for me to express by words, how I feel for him and the love I have for him. Every moment I think about him and I hope that God will protect him and keep him safe." Raghd, 36, who along with Rana, 34, arrived in Jordan on Thursday, both said they last saw their father at a warm family reunion with their children a few days before the U.S.-led war erupted in March. "That was the last day I saw him, he looked well and as elegant as ever. He was totally confident that things were under full control. He was not expecting anything bad," Raghd added to Arabiya. She said Saddam's grandchildren gathered around him. "He was very kind to the children, talking to them and giving them sweets." Asked by CNN if they would answer questions by U.S. officials about Saddam's whereabouts, Rana said she and her sister knew nothing whatsoever about him. "I expect nobody is in touch with him and no one knows where he is," added Raghd. "I know him very well. He's not going to tell anyone where he is now. Even my mother or any other person in the family." She accused close aides of her father of betraying him and spoke of a family in tears when he told them to leave Baghdad as U.S. forces closed in. "This is an act of treason," she said. "It was a big shock. It was clear, unfortunately the people who he had absolutely trusted, his right hand men...as I understood, the main betrayal was by them", she told Arabiya without giving details. Raghd was clad in black and a white veil in a sign of mourning. Her two brothers Qusay and Uday were killed by U.S. forces last month. Describing the collapse of her father's 24-year iron rule in April, Raghd said told Arabiya she was in Baghdad with her sister Rana sitting by the radio all night following the news and praying. "I kept telling my sister it was all over," Raghd said. "Shortly after 12 noon my father sent us cars from his special protection forces with a message saying 'Leave'." Raghd said: "The moment of farewell was awful, the children were hugging each other and crying." The two daughters, who were given asylum in Jordan after arriving on Thursday, did not give a date for Saddam's instruction to quit. U.S.-forces captured Baghdad on April 9. She said she and Rana joined their mother Sajida and their youngest sister Hala at a house on the outskirts of Baghdad as Saddam's rule ended. "We were a group of women and we had to decide about the next steps. My mother said: 'Daughter spread out. Each one should find a place to stay in until we see what God wills for us'. We got separated until this moment," said Raghd. "The shelling was shaking the house we were in. We got into small cars and I had my gun with me. I kept it under my feet. I am not a professional but I know how to use weapons to a certain extent. We were going into an unknown fate..." She said she has no news about her mother or sister Hala since they all went their ways. Raghd's and Rana's husbands were both killed in 1996 on the orders of Saddam, after being accused of giving information about Iraq's weapons to the West. The late husbands of the two sisters were Lieutenant General Hussein Kamel, who headed Iraq's nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programmes for 10 years, and his brother Saddam Kamel. The two men defected to Jordan in 1995, but returned to Iraq in 1996. They were killed shortly afterwards in a gunbattle with Saddam supporters. Both daughters declined to answer questions incriminating Saddam. "I don't want to say anything that might hurt my father during his ordeal and he is dear to me," Raghd told Arabiya. She blamed the killings on Ali Hassan al-Majid, a cousin of Saddam known as "Chemical Ali", who she said was jealous of her husband's rising influence. "He was behind it. He is a nasty and wicked person with a black history of evil acts," she said. "Chemical Ali" is fifth on a U.S. list of 55 top wanted Iraqis. U.S. officials said in June he may still be alive, after saying earlier he was killed. The United States is offering a $25 million bounty for Saddam. It hopes finding him will help end a guerrilla campaign that has killed at least 52 U.S. troops since U.S. President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1. The U.S. military blames Saddam loyalists for the attacks. |
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