Saddam's daughter says betrayal gave US victory

DUBAI - Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter Raghd accused close aides of her father on Friday of betraying the former Iraqi president and said he had told her to leave Baghdad as US forces closed in.

Describing the collapse of her father's 24-year iron rule in April, Raghd told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television in an interview she was in Baghdad with her sister Rana sitting by the radio all night following the news and praying.

"I kept telling my sister it was all over," said Raghd. "Shortly after 12 noon my father sent us cars from his special protection forces with a message saying 'Leave'."

Raghd, 36, who along with Rana, 34, was offered asylum in Jordan after arriving in Amman on Thursday with their nine children, did not give a date for Saddam's instruction to quit. US-forces captured Baghdad on April 9.

She said she and Rana joined their mother Sajida and their youngest sister Hala at a house on the outskirts of Baghdad as Saddam's rule ended.

"We almost lost total contact with my father and brothers because things collapsed," said Raghd.

"We were a group of women and we had to decide about the next steps. My mother said: 'Daughter spread out. Each one should find a place to stay in until we see what God wills for us'. We got separated until this moment," said Raghd.

"The shelling was shaking the house we were in. We got into small cars and I had my gun with me. I kept it under my feet. I am not a professional but I know how to use weapons to a certain extent. We were going into an unknown fate..."

The husbands of Raghd and Rana were both killed in 1996 on the orders of Saddam, whom she described as a "very good father", after being accused of giving information about Iraq's weapons to the West.

Saddam's third and favourite daughter Hala is believed to be still in Iraq. Her husband General Jamal Mustafa Tikriti was arrested after the fall of Saddam. The whereabouts of Sajida, Saddam's first wife, is still unknown.

Raghd gave no details on her accusation that Saddam had been betrayed by close aides.

"This is an act of treason," she said. "It was a big shock. It was clear, unfortunately the people who he had absolutely trusted, his right hand men ... as I understood, the main betrayal was by them.".

Raghd was clad in black and a white veil in a sign of mourning. Her two brothers Qusay and Uday were killed by US forces last month.

"If somebody doesn't like you, they should not betray you. Betrayal is not a trait of Arabs," said Raghd.

Since the end of the US-led war in April that ousted Saddam, Raghd and Rana had been in hiding with their mother under close tribal protection, Iraqi exile sources in Amman said.

The late husbands of the two sisters were Lieutenant General Hussein Kamel, who headed Iraq's nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programmes for 10 years, and his brother Saddam Kamel.

The two men defected to Jordan in 1995 and announced plans to work to overthrow Saddam, but decided to return to Baghdad in 1996. They were killed shortly afterwards in a gunbattle with Saddam supporters.

Raghd said she and Rana said goodbye to Qusays' wife and children who were staying with them when Saddam's "leave" instruction came through.

"The moment of farewell was awful, the children were hugging each other and crying," she said.

"Unfortunately, I saw in my own eyes the army and the Iraqi soldiers retreating, running away and looking over their shoulders while the missiles and rockets fell around us, within 50 to 100 metres," Raghd said.

Some relatives of officials of Iraq's former ruling Baath party have found refuge in Amman in recent months, including the family of former Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, officials say privately.

The United States is offering a US$25 ($43) million bounty for Saddam. It hopes finding him will help end a guerrilla campaign that has killed at least 52 US troops since US President George W Bush declared major combat over on May 1. The US military blames Saddam loyalists for the attacks.

A CIA analysis of a new audio tape broadcast on Friday has found a "high likelihood" that it is Saddam Hussein's voice, a CIA official said.

"Although it cannot be determined with absolute certainty, CIA's assessment after a technical analysis of the tape is that there is a high likelihood that it is Saddam Hussein's voice," the official told Reuters.

The date of the recording could not be determined, the official said. The speaker on the tape gave two different dates -- July 27 and July 28 under the Islamic calendar.

It was the second audio tape purportedly by Saddam broadcast this week.

The speaker on the latest audio tape, aired by Al Jazeera satellite television, forecast that US and British forces would soon be defeated by Iraqi resistance.

"Our belief is strong that God will grant us victory and we are confident that the moment for the foreign army to collapse is possible at any moment," the message said.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq