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Illinois Man Allegedly Spied for Iraq
Aired July 09, 2003 - 09:45 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: A story developing, and just in to CNN, alleged Saddam Hussein intelligence agent arrested in Chicago, Illinois.
Our justice correspondent Kelli Arena now with more information.
Kelli, what do you know?
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, a suburban Chicago man by the name of Khalid Abdullah Tife (ph) Dumeisi, is charged with acting as an Iraqi agent, an unregistered agent of the Saddam Hussein government, who was here, allegedly spying on Iraqi opposition leaders, and then providing that information to Iraqi intelligence officials. The information that was gathered on this individual was found in a dossier uncovered back in April at an intelligence safehouse in Baghdad. It was turned over to the FBI. In that dossier, there was information about an agent in the United States that used the code name "Syhran." After an investigation, it turned out Dumeisi was the same as Syhran.
While he was here, he is a permanent resident of the United States. He's bee been living here for at least 10 years, and he was supposed to go before a magistrate in Chicago, a bit later on this afternoon.
While here, he was registered as president of Around the World News Incorporated out of Illinois, and one of the things that the government alleges that he did was provide false press credentials for Iraqi intelligence officials. He was also said to be trained in using a pen with a hidden camera and microphone in which he spoke to Iraqi opposition leaders and recorded them and then provided information to Saddam's government.
Now he's not charged with espionage. The charge he faces is one of not registering as an agent for another country. If you're not here as part of a diplomatic unit, you need to register when you come into the country. So that's the charge he faces -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, justice correspondent Kelli Arena, thank you. We'll continue to check in as you get more information.
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 July 9, 2003 - 09:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR: A story developing, and just in to CNN, alleged Saddam Hussein intelligence agent arrested in Chicago, Illinois.
Our justice correspondent Kelli Arena now with more information.
Kelli, what do you know?
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, a suburban Chicago man by the name of Khalid Abdullah Tife (ph) Dumeisi, is charged with acting as an Iraqi agent, an unregistered agent of the Saddam Hussein government, who was here, allegedly spying on Iraqi opposition leaders, and then providing that information to Iraqi intelligence officials. The information that was gathered on this individual was found in a dossier uncovered back in April at an intelligence safehouse in Baghdad. It was turned over to the FBI. In that dossier, there was information about an agent in the United States that used the code name "Syhran." After an investigation, it turned out Dumeisi was the same as Syhran.
While he was here, he is a permanent resident of the United States. He's bee been living here for at least 10 years, and he was supposed to go before a magistrate in Chicago, a bit later on this afternoon.
While here, he was registered as president of Around the World News Incorporated out of Illinois, and one of the things that the government alleges that he did was provide false press credentials for Iraqi intelligence officials. He was also said to be trained in using a pen with a hidden camera and microphone in which he spoke to Iraqi opposition leaders and recorded them and then provided information to Saddam's government.
Now he's not charged with espionage. The charge he faces is one of not registering as an agent for another country. If you're not here as part of a diplomatic unit, you need to register when you come into the country. So that's the charge he faces -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, justice correspondent Kelli Arena, thank you. We'll continue to check in as you get more information.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
