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CNN Live At Daybreak
Saddam's Daughters Take Refuge
Aired August 01, 2003 - 05:03 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And Saddam has three daughters. Two of them have now taken refuge in Amman, Jordan.
Our Jane Arraf tells us about that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Saddam's eldest daughters and his nine grandchildren are safe in Jordan tonight. That's after the royal family here gave them refuge. Now, a source close to the family says that the daughters asked for safety and they couldn't help but say yes.
This is not the first time that Rana and Raghad Saddam Hussein have sought refuge in Jordan. They came in '95 with their husbands, Hussein and Saddam Kamel. Now, that ended in tragedy, as well. Hussein Kamel spilled the beans on many of the secret weapons programs, calling for a revolution in Iraq. Despite that, he was lured back by the girls' brother, Uday Saddam Hussein, who said that not a hair on their head would be harmed. Instead, they were lured back to their deaths, leaving the women widows.
Now, they are believed to have been under virtual house arrest for many years, and, of course, last week their own brothers, Uday and Qusay Hussein, were killed in a shootout with American forces. All in all, according to people here, these women have been through an awful lot. And what they're looking for is refuge and the chance to live out perhaps a bit more of a normal life than they otherwise would have on the run or in Iraq.
Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Amman, Jordan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right, now, back to that new audiotape said to be from Saddam Hussein. The message to Iraqis -- do not stop the guerrilla fighting.
Let's head live to Baghdad now and Rym Brahimi -- hello, Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Again, another tape. This is the sixth tape that's been released since the fall of Baghdad back in April and, again, we have no independent confirmation that this is, indeed, the voice of Saddam Hussein. However, the speaker does seem to be consistent with what's been said in the past, again, calling on people to resist U.S. occupation. And this time, last time, if you remember, Carol, he was mourning the death of his two sons. This time the speaker, purportedly Saddam Hussein, is actually saying that the situation will return to normal. He's saying that the occupying forces will surrender, they will collapse because of the blows that the Mujahedeen or the fighters are dealing to them every day. And he's also calling on people to preserve and safeguard any of the property from the formerly ruling Baath Party so that when the situation returns to normal, everything will go back basically to what it was before -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That just takes me aback. I don't know, it takes me aback because how could anyone possibly think that things would go back to normal and Saddam Hussein would regain power? Would many Iraqis buy that?
BRAHIMI: Well, maybe not everybody would buy that, Carol. But I think, if you look at maybe the past, the past of this country, I think that maybe something that he's counting to influence Iraqis, just based on recent history, and if you remember, after the 1991 Gulf War, there was a whole series of uprisings in Iraq. In fact, a few weeks after the war ended, 14 out of the 18 Iraqi governorates were not even under Saddam Hussein's control anymore.
But he did regain control. Of course, that was also because the United States was believed to have found it ultimately in their interests that Saddam Hussein regain control rather than Shia Muslims influenced by Iran at the time. But that said, I think maybe that's where his belief that things could come back to normal might stem from, that or the fact that he's also trying to send a message to U.S. troops and to people around him, loyalists or not loyalists, that he's maybe not as much on the run as people think he is -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, and in the next half hour when you rejoin us we'll talk more about those pictures that U.S. troops are distributing to find Saddam Hussein.
Rym Brahimi live from Baghdad this morning.
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 August 1, 2003 - 05:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And Saddam has three daughters. Two of them have now taken refuge in Amman, Jordan.
Our Jane Arraf tells us about that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Saddam's eldest daughters and his nine grandchildren are safe in Jordan tonight. That's after the royal family here gave them refuge. Now, a source close to the family says that the daughters asked for safety and they couldn't help but say yes.
This is not the first time that Rana and Raghad Saddam Hussein have sought refuge in Jordan. They came in '95 with their husbands, Hussein and Saddam Kamel. Now, that ended in tragedy, as well. Hussein Kamel spilled the beans on many of the secret weapons programs, calling for a revolution in Iraq. Despite that, he was lured back by the girls' brother, Uday Saddam Hussein, who said that not a hair on their head would be harmed. Instead, they were lured back to their deaths, leaving the women widows.
Now, they are believed to have been under virtual house arrest for many years, and, of course, last week their own brothers, Uday and Qusay Hussein, were killed in a shootout with American forces. All in all, according to people here, these women have been through an awful lot. And what they're looking for is refuge and the chance to live out perhaps a bit more of a normal life than they otherwise would have on the run or in Iraq.
Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Amman, Jordan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right, now, back to that new audiotape said to be from Saddam Hussein. The message to Iraqis -- do not stop the guerrilla fighting.
Let's head live to Baghdad now and Rym Brahimi -- hello, Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Again, another tape. This is the sixth tape that's been released since the fall of Baghdad back in April and, again, we have no independent confirmation that this is, indeed, the voice of Saddam Hussein. However, the speaker does seem to be consistent with what's been said in the past, again, calling on people to resist U.S. occupation. And this time, last time, if you remember, Carol, he was mourning the death of his two sons. This time the speaker, purportedly Saddam Hussein, is actually saying that the situation will return to normal. He's saying that the occupying forces will surrender, they will collapse because of the blows that the Mujahedeen or the fighters are dealing to them every day. And he's also calling on people to preserve and safeguard any of the property from the formerly ruling Baath Party so that when the situation returns to normal, everything will go back basically to what it was before -- Carol.
COSTELLO: That just takes me aback. I don't know, it takes me aback because how could anyone possibly think that things would go back to normal and Saddam Hussein would regain power? Would many Iraqis buy that?
BRAHIMI: Well, maybe not everybody would buy that, Carol. But I think, if you look at maybe the past, the past of this country, I think that maybe something that he's counting to influence Iraqis, just based on recent history, and if you remember, after the 1991 Gulf War, there was a whole series of uprisings in Iraq. In fact, a few weeks after the war ended, 14 out of the 18 Iraqi governorates were not even under Saddam Hussein's control anymore.
But he did regain control. Of course, that was also because the United States was believed to have found it ultimately in their interests that Saddam Hussein regain control rather than Shia Muslims influenced by Iran at the time. But that said, I think maybe that's where his belief that things could come back to normal might stem from, that or the fact that he's also trying to send a message to U.S. troops and to people around him, loyalists or not loyalists, that he's maybe not as much on the run as people think he is -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, and in the next half hour when you rejoin us we'll talk more about those pictures that U.S. troops are distributing to find Saddam Hussein.
Rym Brahimi live from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
