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CNN Live Today

Saddam Hussein's Stepson Likely to Be Deported

Aired July 05, 2002 - 12:16   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Saddam Hussein's stepson likely will be on his way out of the U.S. in the next few days. Mohammad Nour al-Din Saffi remains in custody in Miami, where he was enrolled in flight school. CNN's Brian Palmer is in Miami with the latest from there. Hi there, Brian.

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon. That is, in fact, the message that we're getting from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, that the stepson of Saddam Hussein will be deported in the next couple of days. We talked to them just a little while ago. They said the paperwork hadn't yet started, but they are aiming for the next couple of days.

Now the stepson of Saddam, the Iraqi leader, was first picked up in Los Angeles. He raised a couple of red flags, obviously the familial connection, but also the fact that the last time he had visited the states was September 7. He was actually transiting to London, according to law enforcement sources, but that raised a red flag.

Now he was questioned by the Joint Terrorism Task Force. They found apparently nothing amiss and he was allowed to continue on his way to Miami, where he was coming to a flight school to take a re- certification course.

Now apparently he was required to have a visa to take that course and that is precisely why the INS picked him up and detained him. He did not have the appropriate visa. Now, what the vice president for operations, speaking on behalf of that flight school says is this visa requirement was news to them.

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BERTON BEACH, AEROSERVICE AVIATION: There is no requirement on any information we have from the Department of Justice or from the FBI or from the INS that a visa is required. If it is, we don't know that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PALMER: Now, in fact, according to law enforcement he was actually cleared to take this course even before he left New Zealand. You see here his signature on this piece of training. He was checked out by the U.S. Department of Justice and cleared to take this course on the Web site called Pilot Check. He even had a U.S. issued, a Federal Aviation Administration issued certificate citing him as a flight engineer. He is indeed a flight engineer and a citizen of New Zealand.

On that certificate, you also see place of his -- nationality listed as Iraq. Now what the INS is saying is that is separate and apart from this visa violation. They say he needed a visa. He didn't have one. That's why he's being detained. That's why he's going to be deported, but both the FBI and the INS stress that at this point, they have no indication that he was doing anything illegal, that he was planning any illegal activities.

PALMER: They only cite this visa violation and there are, of course, those red flags, the association, the familial association with Saddam Hussein, which is not a blood relation but still some sort of relation, and also the fact that he visited the United States, according to these records, just before 9/11.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you very much, Brian Palmer from Miami. I appreciate it.

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