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American Morning

Hussein's Stepson Arrested in Florida

Aired July 04, 2002 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning: The man believed to be Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's stepson is in custody in Florida, accused of lying about why he wanted to get into the U.S. in the first place. Authorities say Mohammad Nour al-Din Saffi was seeking to recertify his license to fly Boeing 747s, but didn't have the right visa to go to the flight school. The flight school, in fact, that one of the September 11 hijackers had trained at.

CNN's Susan Candiotti is standing by near Miami in Virginia Gardens at the fly schools Saffi had hoped to attend, trying to make sense of a story that I guess at this point, Susan, there's a lot more questions than answers, aren't there?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There continue to be more questions than answers right now, Paula. The latest piece of information we have you alluded to in your lead to me, and that is this: A few minutes ago I spoke with an FBI spokesperson here in Miami who said that they do have information that this flight school that the man who is believed to be the stepson of Saddam Hussein was trying to attend is believed to be the same school attended by one of the September 11 hijackers, specifically Ziad Jarrah. Now, evidently, there's paperwork to that effect and we hope to get more information about that as the day goes on.

Meantime, authorities do believe they have in custody a man who appears to be the stepson of Saddam Hussein. The INS says that he entered the U.S. on New Zealand passport, where he is living. He entered this country through Los Angeles on Monday of this week, July 1. Based on intelligence from overseas, the FBI found out that he was in Los Angeles, and tracked him to a hotel where he had been staying, and that's where they went to question him.

But they left him there, and then went on to notify the INS that he intended to appear here in Miami to attend the flight school that you see over my shoulder to participate in a four-day-long course for pilot recertification that was believed to be ready to start today.

Now, earlier, not long ago, as a matter of fact, a man was spoken to who says that he was with this man, Mohammad Saffi, when he was at the school yesterday afternoon to complete some paperwork, and then he says they went back to the motel located near the school there. At that time, he said they were approached by both INS and FBI agents who were waiting for him, and they were both questioned. Afterward, this is what he said happened. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, after the questioning, I was telling them, I said, OK, the time is over. It's -- we are allowed to do like 10 minutes questioning with you. I said, well, "what happened to Mr. Saffi?" The said, well, the only thing I can tell you is "he is gone." That's the way he said it, "he is gone."

QUESTION: You haven't heard anything from him...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have not heard anything from him yet or from the agent or anybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Now, Mohammad Saffi is currently being held by the INS on a violation of his visa. In other words, he did not have a proper student visa that the INS says is required for him to attend the school. It's unclear what will happen to him, but certainly one of the options, according to one of the sources, is for him to be deported. And I am told that could happen as early as tomorrow -- Paula.

ZAHN: And Susan, I recognize that you're in the middle of this investigation as well, but what have you heard about the charge that FBI agents on the West Coast didn't bother to notify the INS about this man being in the country?

CANDIOTTI: Well, it seems unclear whether they did. But according to FBI sources, several of them that I've spoken with, they're raising that question to me, as well as INS people, wondering -- investigators wondering why it is that they had to find out from the FBI in Los Angeles that he was arriving here. So that's a question even investigators at those two agencies are asking.

ZAHN: And why are they so carefully wording this statement about this guy as "apparently," or "the man who appears to be" the stepson of Saddam Hussein? They don't know that yet?

CANDIOTTI: Well, at this time -- at this time, they will not specify to us exactly what the source is of this intelligence that they received from overseas. So we don't know exactly what they are referring to.

However, a former Clinton administration official has told us that this man does appear a man by this name does appear to be related to Saddam Hussein, does appear to be his stepson. So we're trying to weigh all this information right now.

ZAHN: It's pretty tempting for people hearing the story for the first time to jump to all sorts of conclusions. But even if this guy had the right visa, would there have been a rationale for him coming to this country to recertify himself to fly 747s -- because he had already been certified to do that?

CANDIOTTI: Well, it is not uncommon at all for pilots and those wishing to be pilots to attend -- from overseas -- to attend U.S. flight schools, because of the excellent reputation they have. If you want to get good training, this is where you come.

However, authorities are wondering why he decided to come halfway around the world to attend this particular school, and the timing of it as well. Why now?

ZAHN: All right, Susan Candiotti, we'll be relying on you in the days to come to try to answer all these questions that are being raised. Thanks so much.

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