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CNN Live Saturday
Prosecutors Ask for 30-Day Extension to Indict Alleged Iraqi Spy
Aired May 17, 2003 - 14:15 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: An espionage case involving an Iraqi living in America is getting another look from the federal government. Federal prosecutors have asked for 30 more days before filing an indictment in the case. The spotlight is on a diplomat's son who denies being an Iraqi intelligence agent.
CNN's Michael Okwu has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Was this man charged last month by federal authorities really an Iraqi intelligence agent? Raed Rokan Al-Anbuke, his two brothers and his sister were all arrested at their Brooklyn apartment just six days after the Iraq war began.
JOHN ASHCROFT, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We know that danger still exists.
OKWU: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft says Raed was arrested as part of a U.S. campaign to expel or arrest all Iraqi agents before or during the war.
Raed is being held at this federal jail in Brooklyn on charges of being an unregistered foreign agent. His brothers and sister held on immigration violations.
Back in Baghdad, their mother weeps. Their father wants Raed and his other children set free.
RAED ROKAN AL-ANBUKE, FORMER IRAQI DIPLOMAT: He's innocent, pure citizen. He has nothing to do. Just a child. I was a good believer in the justice of the U.S. law. But for the case of my children, I was astonished.
OKWU: An aspiring male model, Raed worked at a dry cleaners for two and a half years. His former boss was impressed with him.
ANGELO BOLBASIS, WORLD CLASS CLEANERS: He worked very well, very well mannered. My business instinct didn't tell me anything was wrong.
OKWU: Raed's father, a survivor of Saddam's regime, says he now works for one of the committees rebuilding Iraq. Before that he served as a high level diplomat at Iraq's United Nations mission in the late '90s and was seen often at the U.N. Security Council.
In their criminal complaint against Raed, prosecutors say his father worked in New York as an Iraqi intelligence agent. He denies that, saying he was simply a bureaucrat.
AL-ANBUKE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We did our jobs in U.N., (UNINTELLIGIBLE), that's something regular. We have no (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in that. I am not involved in such a thing, you know. Or some this type of thing, you know.
OKWU: Rokan fell out of favor with Saddam Hussein when he returned to Iraq three years ago, and served eight months in prison accused of plotting to assassinate a military official.
Back in New York, federal authorities say Raed also served as an agent for Saddam after his father went home. Raed's attorney says his client never spied for Iraq. In fact, he says, Raed fed information to the U.S. government, in at least half a dozen meetings with FBI agents dating back to July 2001, mostly at the Starbucks close to his job.
(on camera): Prosecutors have until June 13 to indict or release Raed. They say they are trying to work out a deal in his case. But Raed's lawyer says he will not plead guilty and wants the charges against Raed dismissed.
Michael Okwu, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Iraqi Spy>
Aired May 17, 2003 - 14:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: An espionage case involving an Iraqi living in America is getting another look from the federal government. Federal prosecutors have asked for 30 more days before filing an indictment in the case. The spotlight is on a diplomat's son who denies being an Iraqi intelligence agent.
CNN's Michael Okwu has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Was this man charged last month by federal authorities really an Iraqi intelligence agent? Raed Rokan Al-Anbuke, his two brothers and his sister were all arrested at their Brooklyn apartment just six days after the Iraq war began.
JOHN ASHCROFT, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: We know that danger still exists.
OKWU: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft says Raed was arrested as part of a U.S. campaign to expel or arrest all Iraqi agents before or during the war.
Raed is being held at this federal jail in Brooklyn on charges of being an unregistered foreign agent. His brothers and sister held on immigration violations.
Back in Baghdad, their mother weeps. Their father wants Raed and his other children set free.
RAED ROKAN AL-ANBUKE, FORMER IRAQI DIPLOMAT: He's innocent, pure citizen. He has nothing to do. Just a child. I was a good believer in the justice of the U.S. law. But for the case of my children, I was astonished.
OKWU: An aspiring male model, Raed worked at a dry cleaners for two and a half years. His former boss was impressed with him.
ANGELO BOLBASIS, WORLD CLASS CLEANERS: He worked very well, very well mannered. My business instinct didn't tell me anything was wrong.
OKWU: Raed's father, a survivor of Saddam's regime, says he now works for one of the committees rebuilding Iraq. Before that he served as a high level diplomat at Iraq's United Nations mission in the late '90s and was seen often at the U.N. Security Council.
In their criminal complaint against Raed, prosecutors say his father worked in New York as an Iraqi intelligence agent. He denies that, saying he was simply a bureaucrat.
AL-ANBUKE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We did our jobs in U.N., (UNINTELLIGIBLE), that's something regular. We have no (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in that. I am not involved in such a thing, you know. Or some this type of thing, you know.
OKWU: Rokan fell out of favor with Saddam Hussein when he returned to Iraq three years ago, and served eight months in prison accused of plotting to assassinate a military official.
Back in New York, federal authorities say Raed also served as an agent for Saddam after his father went home. Raed's attorney says his client never spied for Iraq. In fact, he says, Raed fed information to the U.S. government, in at least half a dozen meetings with FBI agents dating back to July 2001, mostly at the Starbucks close to his job.
(on camera): Prosecutors have until June 13 to indict or release Raed. They say they are trying to work out a deal in his case. But Raed's lawyer says he will not plead guilty and wants the charges against Raed dismissed.
Michael Okwu, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Iraqi Spy>
