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Saddam's Daughter Speaks Out

Aired December 18, 2003 - 15:03   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: They were very much in the shadows when their dad was in the spotlight. But now Saddam Hussein is out of the picture and his daughters are speaking out.
Just a short time ago, Saddam's eldest daughter, Raghad Al- Hussein, gave her first on-camera interview since her father's apprehension, the interviewer, CNN's Rym Brahimi, who joins us now live from Amman, Jordan -- Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, Raghad Saddam Hussein, the daughter of -- the eldest daughter of the former Iraqi president, as you mentioned, basically how she found out about her father's capture and how it felt to see those pictures that were broadcast on TV all day long.

And she said that she had found out just watching TV. It began just a scroll. Initially, she said she was in total disbelief. She didn't believe it. And for many, many hours, she kept waiting for somebody, she says, to tell her that this was not true, that it was a big mistake. And then when, finally, it basically hit her that this was actually true and the pictures of her father actually came out, she says she sat on the floor and began to cry.

She said her daughter, 10-year-old daughter, began to try and comfort and hug her, but she said she felt that was a very, very cruel moment and she said she was wounded very deeply. I also asked her about how she felt and why she said a couple of days ago that she thought he had been drugged. And she insisted again that she was 100 percent convinced that the Saddam Hussein that had been shown on TV was not the Saddam Hussein the father that she knew.

She said: My father was not conscious. Anyone with insight could tell from the first moment they saw it that he was not fully conscious.

She knows that the newspapers have analyzed this. She has read a lot of newspapers. She's followed everything that's been said about this on TV, but she remains convinced that he had been drugged -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Rym, obviously, all the circumstances surrounding Saddam Hussein and his capture, do you we know if she'll have a chance or be allowed to see her father?

BRAHIMI: Well, she mentioned that, if there were to be any contact, she would probably try through the legal channels, but she wasn't more specific than that. She said she hadn't been in touch with him, neither before his capture, nor since his capture. But she remained very vague and just said, we'll see what the future holds.

Of course, if there's maybe a legal way of doing this, it would be fine. She focused a lot, also, on the trial. She felt that the trial held in Iraq, she said, would not provide him a fair trial and said that it would be better for him to be tried by an international court, rather than by an Iraqi court in Iraq -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Did you ask her about the charges against her father and if she believes he is innocent?

BRAHIMI: Well, she didn't want to talk about that. She was very careful to really stay away from all that. It's a topic that she doesn't want to discuss either on or even off camera, actually. Even in our private conversation following the interview, she refused to discuss that.

And she insisted that she says, not just because we're children of politicians means that we're involved. We were not involved in anything. We have never wanted to be involved in politics. And this is -- we have loyalty to our father as a daughter to a father, but that's -- that's as far as it goes.

And it's something she did repeat a couple of times -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Our Rym Brahimi joining us via the telephone in Amman, Jordan, there after having an exclusive interview just a short time ago with Saddam's daughter, Raghad Al-Hussein. She gave her first on- camera interview since her father's apprehension. Our Rym Brahimi got it. We'll bring you more throughout the hours, of course.

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 December 18, 2003 - 15:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: They were very much in the shadows when their dad was in the spotlight. But now Saddam Hussein is out of the picture and his daughters are speaking out.
Just a short time ago, Saddam's eldest daughter, Raghad Al- Hussein, gave her first on-camera interview since her father's apprehension, the interviewer, CNN's Rym Brahimi, who joins us now live from Amman, Jordan -- Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, Raghad Saddam Hussein, the daughter of -- the eldest daughter of the former Iraqi president, as you mentioned, basically how she found out about her father's capture and how it felt to see those pictures that were broadcast on TV all day long.

And she said that she had found out just watching TV. It began just a scroll. Initially, she said she was in total disbelief. She didn't believe it. And for many, many hours, she kept waiting for somebody, she says, to tell her that this was not true, that it was a big mistake. And then when, finally, it basically hit her that this was actually true and the pictures of her father actually came out, she says she sat on the floor and began to cry.

She said her daughter, 10-year-old daughter, began to try and comfort and hug her, but she said she felt that was a very, very cruel moment and she said she was wounded very deeply. I also asked her about how she felt and why she said a couple of days ago that she thought he had been drugged. And she insisted again that she was 100 percent convinced that the Saddam Hussein that had been shown on TV was not the Saddam Hussein the father that she knew.

She said: My father was not conscious. Anyone with insight could tell from the first moment they saw it that he was not fully conscious.

She knows that the newspapers have analyzed this. She has read a lot of newspapers. She's followed everything that's been said about this on TV, but she remains convinced that he had been drugged -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Rym, obviously, all the circumstances surrounding Saddam Hussein and his capture, do you we know if she'll have a chance or be allowed to see her father?

BRAHIMI: Well, she mentioned that, if there were to be any contact, she would probably try through the legal channels, but she wasn't more specific than that. She said she hadn't been in touch with him, neither before his capture, nor since his capture. But she remained very vague and just said, we'll see what the future holds.

Of course, if there's maybe a legal way of doing this, it would be fine. She focused a lot, also, on the trial. She felt that the trial held in Iraq, she said, would not provide him a fair trial and said that it would be better for him to be tried by an international court, rather than by an Iraqi court in Iraq -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Did you ask her about the charges against her father and if she believes he is innocent?

BRAHIMI: Well, she didn't want to talk about that. She was very careful to really stay away from all that. It's a topic that she doesn't want to discuss either on or even off camera, actually. Even in our private conversation following the interview, she refused to discuss that.

And she insisted that she says, not just because we're children of politicians means that we're involved. We were not involved in anything. We have never wanted to be involved in politics. And this is -- we have loyalty to our father as a daughter to a father, but that's -- that's as far as it goes.

And it's something she did repeat a couple of times -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Our Rym Brahimi joining us via the telephone in Amman, Jordan, there after having an exclusive interview just a short time ago with Saddam's daughter, Raghad Al-Hussein. She gave her first on- camera interview since her father's apprehension. Our Rym Brahimi got it. We'll bring you more throughout the hours, of course.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com