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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview with Nada Doumani
Aired February 21, 2004 - 08:05 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: Something to share with you just coming into us this morning to CNN, CNN has confirmed the International Committee of the Red Cross, also known as the ICRC, has visited with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. We are listening to a briefing by General Kimmett now regarding that very report and what they did learn.
Also, on the phone with us is Nada this morning.
Nada, I'm sorry, I don't have your full name.
Could you please identify yourself for us?
NADA DOUMANI, INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS: Yes, I'm Nada Doumani, a spokesperson for the ICRC, for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
COLLINS: Did you meet with Saddam Hussein?
DOUMANI: Yes, absolutely. This, we visited (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we visited this morning the previous Iraqi president who is held in detention.
COLLINS: What did you talk with him about?
DOUMANI: Well, as usual, as for all visits to detainees, we check with the detainee his conditions of detention, the way he is treated and his health condition.
COLLINS: What were his answers to those questions?
DOUMANI: And we give him, also, the possibility to write messages to his family if he wants to.
COLLINS: OK. Can you tell us what the answer to some of those questions were regarding his situation?
DOUMANI: No, well, as you know, that's also usual procedure, standard procedure for the ICRC that we keep all the comments on the conditions of detention confidential and we don't disclose them publicly. The aim, of course, is not to make it public and be used politically and in order to ensure for us access to the detainees.
COLLINS: Nada, is there anything that you can tell us about what you talked about with the former Iraqi president? DOUMANI: Well, we asked him, as I said, about his condition of detention, meaning exactly whether he is getting food, water, good treatment, whether he has any health problems, etc. There was a doctor in the visiting team and the doctor -- an ICRC doctor who could check that, too. And we, he, the president, ex-president, Saddam Hussein, wrote a message, also, to his family.
COLLINS: He did write a message to his family. Tell us about that procedure. Do you then take those messages directly to the family?
DOUMANI: Well, they have to pass through the censorship of the detaining authority and then they're distributed to the families directly. And like in any usual detention visit to any detainee, there is also a meeting with the detaining authority before and at the end of each visit, and whether we have any comments, recommendations, we do them bilaterally to the detaining authorities.
COLLINS: OK. Can you tell us anything personally, Nada, about what you noticed when you saw him? How did he seem to you?
DOUMANI: Well, that's part also of the things that we don't comment on publicly, as the aim, as I said, of any ICRC visit is to check how the situation of the detainee is and if there is anything we find that should be changed or improved, we'll do it bilaterally. But we don't comment on that publicly, I'm sorry.
COLLINS: OK, that's fine.
DOUMANI: That's the usual procedure for anybody. It's not because it's for Saddam Hussein.
COLLINS: I understand.
The last question for you, Nada, if you would. Is this the first time that you have visited with him and do you plan to visit with him again?
DOUMANI: Yes, absolutely. This is the first visit and we will repeat this visit regularly. And that's also a standard procedure for the International Red Cross, to visit regularly people as long as they are in detention.
COLLINS: All right, Nada Doumani from the ICRC, the International Red Cross. Thanks so very much for your information this morning, upon the first visit with former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
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 February 21, 2004 - 08:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Something to share with you just coming into us this morning to CNN, CNN has confirmed the International Committee of the Red Cross, also known as the ICRC, has visited with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. We are listening to a briefing by General Kimmett now regarding that very report and what they did learn.
Also, on the phone with us is Nada this morning.
Nada, I'm sorry, I don't have your full name.
Could you please identify yourself for us?
NADA DOUMANI, INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS: Yes, I'm Nada Doumani, a spokesperson for the ICRC, for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
COLLINS: Did you meet with Saddam Hussein?
DOUMANI: Yes, absolutely. This, we visited (UNINTELLIGIBLE) we visited this morning the previous Iraqi president who is held in detention.
COLLINS: What did you talk with him about?
DOUMANI: Well, as usual, as for all visits to detainees, we check with the detainee his conditions of detention, the way he is treated and his health condition.
COLLINS: What were his answers to those questions?
DOUMANI: And we give him, also, the possibility to write messages to his family if he wants to.
COLLINS: OK. Can you tell us what the answer to some of those questions were regarding his situation?
DOUMANI: No, well, as you know, that's also usual procedure, standard procedure for the ICRC that we keep all the comments on the conditions of detention confidential and we don't disclose them publicly. The aim, of course, is not to make it public and be used politically and in order to ensure for us access to the detainees.
COLLINS: Nada, is there anything that you can tell us about what you talked about with the former Iraqi president? DOUMANI: Well, we asked him, as I said, about his condition of detention, meaning exactly whether he is getting food, water, good treatment, whether he has any health problems, etc. There was a doctor in the visiting team and the doctor -- an ICRC doctor who could check that, too. And we, he, the president, ex-president, Saddam Hussein, wrote a message, also, to his family.
COLLINS: He did write a message to his family. Tell us about that procedure. Do you then take those messages directly to the family?
DOUMANI: Well, they have to pass through the censorship of the detaining authority and then they're distributed to the families directly. And like in any usual detention visit to any detainee, there is also a meeting with the detaining authority before and at the end of each visit, and whether we have any comments, recommendations, we do them bilaterally to the detaining authorities.
COLLINS: OK. Can you tell us anything personally, Nada, about what you noticed when you saw him? How did he seem to you?
DOUMANI: Well, that's part also of the things that we don't comment on publicly, as the aim, as I said, of any ICRC visit is to check how the situation of the detainee is and if there is anything we find that should be changed or improved, we'll do it bilaterally. But we don't comment on that publicly, I'm sorry.
COLLINS: OK, that's fine.
DOUMANI: That's the usual procedure for anybody. It's not because it's for Saddam Hussein.
COLLINS: I understand.
The last question for you, Nada, if you would. Is this the first time that you have visited with him and do you plan to visit with him again?
DOUMANI: Yes, absolutely. This is the first visit and we will repeat this visit regularly. And that's also a standard procedure for the International Red Cross, to visit regularly people as long as they are in detention.
COLLINS: All right, Nada Doumani from the ICRC, the International Red Cross. Thanks so very much for your information this morning, upon the first visit with former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
