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Jordan refuses extradition of Saddam Hussein’s family to Iraq

April 10, 2018 at 2:46 pm

Raghad Saddam Hussein, the eldest daughter of former President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein [Raghad Saddam Hussein/Facebook]

Jordan has once again refused to extradite the daughter of former president of Iraq Raghad Hussein or any other members of the late leader’s family, an Iraqi official has said.

The senior member of Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi’s office told Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that the PM has not requested Raghad’s extradition but rather there were “officials in the Ministry of the Interior and the Commission of Accountability and Justice and the Popular Mobilisation Forces” who had raised the issue.

“The daughter of former president Saddam Hussein has not proved her involvement in the Speicher massacre or any violence in Iraq after 2003, but there are those who named her specifically for electoral and sectarian reasons,” he explained.

READ: Iraq’s wanted list includes Saddam’s daughter but not Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi

He added that Jordanian intelligence officials confirmed to Iraq that it was impossible to hand over any of the late president’s family members. They denied that Raghad or any member of Saddam’s family have engaged in any political or security activity which is harmful to Iraq.

“The fact that Al-Abadi has not adopted this file for lack of evidence,” the official said, is proof that Jordan’s response will not affect relations between the two countries.

However Iraqi Member of Parliament Sadiq Al-Laban said: “Saddam is wanted by the Iraqi judiciary on charges of supporting terrorism and participating in the Speicher massacre, which claimed the lives of about 1,700 young Iraqis.”