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American Morning
Member of Saddam Hussein's Family Discovered Living in Damascus
Aired May 19, 2003 - 08:21 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.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: A member of Saddam Hussein's family has been discovered living in Damascus under the protection of the government there.
And Con Coughlin is the author of "Saddam: King of Terror" and the executive editor of the London "Sunday Telegraph" and he's following this story from Baghdad.
Thanks for joining us.
Let me get right to it. Who is Fatiq Al-Majid and what kind of role does he play in the leadership, in Saddam Hussein's leadership?
CON COUGHLIN, AUTHOR, "SADDAM: KING OF TERROR," LONDON "SUNDAY TELEGRAPH": Well, first of all, as you said, he is Saddam's nephew. He's also the nephew of Chemical Ali, Ali Hassan al-Majid. And until the war he was a senior commander in the special security organization, which is basically the elite group that protected Saddam. And he went to Damascus last Monday, a week ago. He went through the checkpoint controlled by U.S. forces. And when he got to Damascus, I contacted him by telephone. He confirmed his identity and he confirmed his location. And it's the first confirmation we have that the Syrians are harboring members of Saddam's family.
CHOI: Did Majid, Al-Majid give any indication about the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein or even if he's even heard from him?
COUGHLIN: Well, as can imagine, that was one of the first questions I asked him, and he wouldn't be drawn. But what I have subsequently discovered is that virtually all of Saddam's family -- Samera, Sajida, his two wives, the children, their children, about 100 members of Saddam's family in all went to Damascus for the war and about $10 million was transferred from holding accounts in Jordan to the Iraqi embassy in Damascus to fund their stay.
Since the end of the war, these family members have been literally commuting backwards and forwards to Iraq. Basically they are hanging out in Mosul, one of the northern cities. But frankly, it's quite incredible that they can move so freely between Iraq and Syria at a time when the U.S. authorities here say they have sealed the border between Iraq and Syria.
CHOI: So are you saying that U.S. troops dropped the ball here then?
COUGHLIN: Well, it looks like it. I mean either that or they were smuggled out or disguised in some way. But as I say, I mean the coalition forces are supposed to be trying to track down these people, because if they can get to these people, then they could probably find Saddam. And there seems no doubt to me or anybody else here in Baghdad that Saddam is alive, his two sons are alive and they're still operating.
So, you know, this is a high risk strategy. These people need to be taken in and questioned.
CHOI: Now, this puts a lot of pressure back on the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, because all along he has denied U.S. claims that his government is, in fact, harboring these Iraqi fugitives.
COUGHLIN: Yes, well, of course, that's the Syrian way. The Syrians have denied everything for the last 20 years. Whenever a terrorist group based in Damascus lets off a bomb in Tel Aviv or Rome Airport, the Syrians say we know nothing about it.
So, of course they would deny having significant numbers of senior members of Saddam's family in Damascus. But the fact remains that these people were looked after by Syrian intelligence. Syrian intelligence reports directly to the office of President Assad. And they are playing a very dangerous game.
CHOI: And we will see what kind of reaction we get to this new discovery.
Con Coughlin, thank you so much for your insights into this matter, author "Saddam: King of Terror" and the executive director of the London "Sunday Telegraph," thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Damascus>
Aired May 19, 2003 - 08:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN ANCHOR: A member of Saddam Hussein's family has been discovered living in Damascus under the protection of the government there.
And Con Coughlin is the author of "Saddam: King of Terror" and the executive editor of the London "Sunday Telegraph" and he's following this story from Baghdad.
Thanks for joining us.
Let me get right to it. Who is Fatiq Al-Majid and what kind of role does he play in the leadership, in Saddam Hussein's leadership?
CON COUGHLIN, AUTHOR, "SADDAM: KING OF TERROR," LONDON "SUNDAY TELEGRAPH": Well, first of all, as you said, he is Saddam's nephew. He's also the nephew of Chemical Ali, Ali Hassan al-Majid. And until the war he was a senior commander in the special security organization, which is basically the elite group that protected Saddam. And he went to Damascus last Monday, a week ago. He went through the checkpoint controlled by U.S. forces. And when he got to Damascus, I contacted him by telephone. He confirmed his identity and he confirmed his location. And it's the first confirmation we have that the Syrians are harboring members of Saddam's family.
CHOI: Did Majid, Al-Majid give any indication about the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein or even if he's even heard from him?
COUGHLIN: Well, as can imagine, that was one of the first questions I asked him, and he wouldn't be drawn. But what I have subsequently discovered is that virtually all of Saddam's family -- Samera, Sajida, his two wives, the children, their children, about 100 members of Saddam's family in all went to Damascus for the war and about $10 million was transferred from holding accounts in Jordan to the Iraqi embassy in Damascus to fund their stay.
Since the end of the war, these family members have been literally commuting backwards and forwards to Iraq. Basically they are hanging out in Mosul, one of the northern cities. But frankly, it's quite incredible that they can move so freely between Iraq and Syria at a time when the U.S. authorities here say they have sealed the border between Iraq and Syria.
CHOI: So are you saying that U.S. troops dropped the ball here then?
COUGHLIN: Well, it looks like it. I mean either that or they were smuggled out or disguised in some way. But as I say, I mean the coalition forces are supposed to be trying to track down these people, because if they can get to these people, then they could probably find Saddam. And there seems no doubt to me or anybody else here in Baghdad that Saddam is alive, his two sons are alive and they're still operating.
So, you know, this is a high risk strategy. These people need to be taken in and questioned.
CHOI: Now, this puts a lot of pressure back on the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, because all along he has denied U.S. claims that his government is, in fact, harboring these Iraqi fugitives.
COUGHLIN: Yes, well, of course, that's the Syrian way. The Syrians have denied everything for the last 20 years. Whenever a terrorist group based in Damascus lets off a bomb in Tel Aviv or Rome Airport, the Syrians say we know nothing about it.
So, of course they would deny having significant numbers of senior members of Saddam's family in Damascus. But the fact remains that these people were looked after by Syrian intelligence. Syrian intelligence reports directly to the office of President Assad. And they are playing a very dangerous game.
CHOI: And we will see what kind of reaction we get to this new discovery.
Con Coughlin, thank you so much for your insights into this matter, author "Saddam: King of Terror" and the executive director of the London "Sunday Telegraph," thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Damascus>
