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CNN Live Today
Hijazi Possibly in Syria
Aired April 16, 2003 - 11:25 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, as you just heard, Syria today denying charges that it is harboring the former head of Iraq's feared spy agency.
For more on that, let's bring in our international correspondent Sheila MacVicar. She is in Damascus today. Sheila, hello.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. Well, this is something that emerged from U.S. administration officials late yesterday. They started talking about a man named Farouk Hijazi, a former head of one of Iraq's intelligence agencies, most recently the Iraqi ambassador to Tunisia. Prior to that, the Iraqi ambassador to Turkey. According to U.S. administration officials, Mr. Hijazi had arrived in Syria and was finding shelter here. Syrian officials denied that, and this is what Bouthaina Shaaban, the chief spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOUTHAINA SHAABAN, SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: Farouk Hijazi is not in Syria, and he hasn't got permission to come to Syria at all.
QUESTION: Did he come to -- did he transit Syria from elsewhere? To Iraq, perhaps?
SHAABAN: To my knowledge, he hasn't been to Syria at all, as far as I know, that he hasn't come to Syria. I think he probably has asked to come to Syria, but to my knowledge, is that the Syrian authorities are not allowing him to come to Syria.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACVICAR: Now, one of the reasons why Farouk Hijazi is such a sensitive subject is that the U.S. believes that he was involved in the plot -- the attempted plot to assassinate the first President Bush in the early 1990s, and they would like very much to talk with him. The Syrians say that they believe he made a phone call to his colleague, the Iraqi ambassador here in Damascus. That ambassador asked the Syrians, and the Syrians said no. They said that they are deciding the cases of entry of Iraqis to Syria on a case by case basis. They cited the example of Mohammed Aldouri, the former Iraqi ambassador to U.N. who was allowed into Syria this weekend on his way back to Iraq himself. But they have made very clear their border is closed, and there is no one welcome in Syria from the regime -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Sheila MacVicar, thanks for the latest on that. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 16, 2003 - 11:25 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, as you just heard, Syria today denying charges that it is harboring the former head of Iraq's feared spy agency.
For more on that, let's bring in our international correspondent Sheila MacVicar. She is in Damascus today. Sheila, hello.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. Well, this is something that emerged from U.S. administration officials late yesterday. They started talking about a man named Farouk Hijazi, a former head of one of Iraq's intelligence agencies, most recently the Iraqi ambassador to Tunisia. Prior to that, the Iraqi ambassador to Turkey. According to U.S. administration officials, Mr. Hijazi had arrived in Syria and was finding shelter here. Syrian officials denied that, and this is what Bouthaina Shaaban, the chief spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOUTHAINA SHAABAN, SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON: Farouk Hijazi is not in Syria, and he hasn't got permission to come to Syria at all.
QUESTION: Did he come to -- did he transit Syria from elsewhere? To Iraq, perhaps?
SHAABAN: To my knowledge, he hasn't been to Syria at all, as far as I know, that he hasn't come to Syria. I think he probably has asked to come to Syria, but to my knowledge, is that the Syrian authorities are not allowing him to come to Syria.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACVICAR: Now, one of the reasons why Farouk Hijazi is such a sensitive subject is that the U.S. believes that he was involved in the plot -- the attempted plot to assassinate the first President Bush in the early 1990s, and they would like very much to talk with him. The Syrians say that they believe he made a phone call to his colleague, the Iraqi ambassador here in Damascus. That ambassador asked the Syrians, and the Syrians said no. They said that they are deciding the cases of entry of Iraqis to Syria on a case by case basis. They cited the example of Mohammed Aldouri, the former Iraqi ambassador to U.N. who was allowed into Syria this weekend on his way back to Iraq himself. But they have made very clear their border is closed, and there is no one welcome in Syria from the regime -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Sheila MacVicar, thanks for the latest on that. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
