Free Republic

Saddam Hussein ordered Iraq's central bank to withdraw $1 billion for his youngest son the day before the invasion to stop it falling into foreign hands, according to a leaked letter apparently written by the former dictator. In a hand-written note to the bank's governor, marked "top secret" and dated March 19, 2003, the former president told Isam Huwaish to give $920 million and 90 million euros to his son Qusay and another man, al-Mashriq newspaper reported yesterday. The Iraqi national broadsheet reproduced the letter, which appears to bear Saddam's signature. Saddam sent bank a hand-written note Employees of the...

A revised arrest warrant recently posted by Interpol may finally lead to the capture and extradition of Saddam Hussein’s eldest daughter, who is charged with supporting terrorist activities in Iraq. Raghad Hussein, who lives in Amman, Jordan, under the protection of King Abdullah II, was charged in November 2006 with supporting the Iraqi insurgency. But in the murky world of Middle East politics, neither the warrant nor the charges against her created much of a stir. She was, after all, Saddam Hussein's daughter. And in the chaos that followed the coalition invasion of Iraq, no one quite believed that the...

Hussein-linked 'terrorist' caught   BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi forces detained the suspected leader of a terrorist cell network believed to be funded by Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter, who is wanted by Iraqi authorities on terrorism charges, the U.S. military announced Monday. Raghad Hussein is currently living in Jordan under the protection of the royal family. The raid happened Sunday in Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. It was carried out by Iraqi forces, advised by U.S. Special Forces, the military said.The network, believed to be funded by Raghad Hussein, has been "linked to a series of attacks on coalition forces"...

BAGHDAD — Less than a year after her father was sent to the gallows, Saddam Hussein's daughter is facing charges that also could lead to her execution. A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior said Friday that Raghad Hussein, 38, has been charged with financing the insurgents who have bedeviled this country since shortly after her father's regime was toppled in 2003. Hussein is believed to be living in Amman, Jordan, as a guest of King Abdullah II. The spokesman, Abdul Kereem Khalaf, said the Iraqi Judicial Authority issued an arrest warrant for Hussein a year ago, but that it...

She was relaxing in the Dazzle beauty salon awaiting a hot stone body scrub when she got the call. It was obviously something important or her personal assistant would not have risked invoking her volcanic temper by passing her the mobile phone mid-treatment. Indeed it was. On the end of the line was a lawyer telling her that Saddam Hussein had lost his appeal and would hang by the end of the week. And the tall, slim woman who paled as she received this news was the tyrant's redoubtable eldest daughter Raghad. There was much arm-waving, cursing and shrieking. But...

The woman and the elder girl of Saddam Hussein sought by Iraq BAGHDAD - the woman and the elder girl of Iraqi president deposed Saddam Hussein, who live both in exile, are reproduced on a new list of 41 the most sought people, whose Iraq required the extradition, published Sunday by the Iraqi adviser for national safety. "This list will be posted everywhere in the institutions of gouvernment, in the mosques and elsewhere to help to stop them" declared with the press Mouaffak Al-Roubaïe. "These people are responsible for the majority of the attacks and the murders perpetrated without...

Ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has called on Iraqis to unite and praised the appeasing role played by top Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali Sistani, his lawyer said Monday. Saddam, who is on trial for crimes against humanity, called "for unity at all levels to stop those who want to trigger sedition and division", lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said in a statement. The call follows last week's unprecedented sectarian violence in which more than 120 people were killed. Saddam also "paid tribute to Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the religious authority, for his efforts to prevent sectarian strife". The Shiite religious leader appealed...

Raghad Saddam Hussein said that as the eldest living child of the former Iraqi leader she must be a politician, because her father and many Iraqis were depending on her. Raghad who holds a BA in translation in translation from Arabic into English and vice versa, believes she has responsibilities towards her father and Iraq. "I am the daughter of Saddam, my mother is Saddam's wife, and my children are the grandchildren of Saddam," she told the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat (the Middle East)on Tuesday. "You do not understand, but I have commitments. I bear his name and he...