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Head of Republican Guard Rumored to Be in Syria
Aired April 18, 2003 - 15:29 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR: The U.S.-led coalition is having some success in its bid to track down key leaders in Saddam Hussein's regime. And today, the search goes on.
The latest now from CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, just yesterday, the chairman of the joint chiefs complained that Syria was harboring senior Iraqi leaders. Today, we're getting a little bit of a hint of who they may be talking about, who may have crossed the border from Iraq into Syria.
According to Pentagon sources, one of the 55 most wanted Iraqis, Kamil Mustafa Abdallah Sultan Al-Tikriti, Iraq's former secretary of the Republican Guard and special Republican Guard, is one of several senior Iraqi leaders who are believed to have slipped across the border into Syria. He is number eight on the most wanted list.
The Pentagon also believes there may be other top Iraqi officials in Syria, but they're not giving any names.
The U.S. is concentrating its manhunt for former members of Saddam Hussein's regime in northwestern Iraq, in that area near the Syrian border. That's where they believe a large number of Iraqi officials may have gathered to try to cross into Syria.
Now, Syria has said lately that it has essentially sealed its border and it's told the United States that it's denied access to a number of people, including one of Saddam Hussein's half brothers, Barzan, who was later picked up by U.S. forces near Baghdad.
The Syrian government says they denied access to Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti and also to Abu Abbas, the Palestinian terror suspect.
So Syria is also apparently indicating that it may be holding some Iraqi officials it may be willing to turn over to the United States, but there's no clarity on that. The presumption here at the Pentagon is if there were to be some sort of turnover, it would probably be in conjunction with Secretary of State Colin Powell's possible visit to Syria in the weeks ahead -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
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 18, 2003 - 15:29 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR: The U.S.-led coalition is having some success in its bid to track down key leaders in Saddam Hussein's regime. And today, the search goes on.
The latest now from CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, just yesterday, the chairman of the joint chiefs complained that Syria was harboring senior Iraqi leaders. Today, we're getting a little bit of a hint of who they may be talking about, who may have crossed the border from Iraq into Syria.
According to Pentagon sources, one of the 55 most wanted Iraqis, Kamil Mustafa Abdallah Sultan Al-Tikriti, Iraq's former secretary of the Republican Guard and special Republican Guard, is one of several senior Iraqi leaders who are believed to have slipped across the border into Syria. He is number eight on the most wanted list.
The Pentagon also believes there may be other top Iraqi officials in Syria, but they're not giving any names.
The U.S. is concentrating its manhunt for former members of Saddam Hussein's regime in northwestern Iraq, in that area near the Syrian border. That's where they believe a large number of Iraqi officials may have gathered to try to cross into Syria.
Now, Syria has said lately that it has essentially sealed its border and it's told the United States that it's denied access to a number of people, including one of Saddam Hussein's half brothers, Barzan, who was later picked up by U.S. forces near Baghdad.
The Syrian government says they denied access to Barzan Ibrahim Hassan al-Tikriti and also to Abu Abbas, the Palestinian terror suspect.
So Syria is also apparently indicating that it may be holding some Iraqi officials it may be willing to turn over to the United States, but there's no clarity on that. The presumption here at the Pentagon is if there were to be some sort of turnover, it would probably be in conjunction with Secretary of State Colin Powell's possible visit to Syria in the weeks ahead -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
