MP: Saddam’s daughter is in UAE, only U.S. can return her to Iraq

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) The daughter of Iraq’s late president Saddam Hussein is currently living in the United Arab Emirates, and only the United States can greenlight her return to Iraq, where she faces terrorism charges, according to a parliamentarian close to the Iraqi prime minister.

Jassem Mohamed Jaafar told Baghdad Today that Raghad Saddam currently lives in Emirates, and not in Jordan as is widely believed. “Her handover to Iraq is in the U.S. hands, if they want to hand her over, UAE will do, and if not, the UAE will not”, Jaafar said. “The U.S. is currently working on handing over terrorists to Iraq, rather than Baathist vestiges,” he said, referring to Saddam’s formerly ruling party.

Earlier this week, Iraq issued a list of 60 Baathists, al-Qaeda and Islamic State militants wanted for terrorism charges, including Raghad.

Jaafar said the Iraqi government possesses “numerous evidence for Raghad’s involvement in terrorism, and had handed that evidence to the Interpol for her extradition.

Speaking to Dubai-based al-Arabiya channel on Monday, Raghad dismissed the charges against her, confirming that she currently does not live in Jordan.

In a relevant context, Saudi al-Watan newspaper quoted a “senior Iraqi security official” saying that the list comprised by the Iraqi government reflects “a concern of a possible alliance among the three categories of those wanted: Baathists, Islamic State and al-Qaeda”.

According to the official, “Iraqi security and intelligence apparatuses have, for a month, been studying information from friendly (intelligence) bodies about an imminent alliance comprising Islamic State, al-Qaeda and Baath to lead a new era of terrorism that could largely disrupt the domestic situation and open new combat fronts at towns previously declared as terrorists-free”.