DATE=9/8/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ DEFECTION (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253589
BYLINE=RICHARD ENGEL
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Iraqi opposition and Arab media report that a
close relative of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has
defected. Richard Engel reports from our Middle East
bureau in Cairo that President Saddam's half-brother
reportedly fled Baghdad after disagreements with the
Iraqi president's politically-powerful sons.
TEXT: Members of Iraqi opposition groups say Saddam
Hussein's half-brother, Barzan Takriti, has defected
to a country in the Gulf. The Saudi-owned "Al Hayat"
newspaper further reports that Mr. Takriti has been
given political asylum in the United Arab Emirates.
The newspaper says Mr. Takriti flew to the U-A-E last
week after having a dispute with Saddam Hussein's sons
Uday and Qussay. But officials in the U-A-E would not
confirm the reports.
Mr. Takriti, who has served both as Iraq's ambassador
to Switzerland and the head of Iraqi intelligence, has
long been considered a candidate for defection because
of his poor relations with Saddam Hussein's sons.
In August, Mr. Takriti traveled to Geneva to visit six
of his eight-children who live there. Reports say
after that he defected.
But an Iraqi government spokesman denies a defection
has taken place. He said Mr. Takriti is still on
holiday with his family in Switzerland.
In recent years, there have been numerous reports of
power struggles among the members of Saddam Hussein's
family. His relatives hold most of the
senior government positions in Iraq, and disputes
between them have been deadly.
In August 1995 two of Saddam Hussein's sons-in-law --
Hussein Kamal Al Majid and Saddam Kamal Al Majid --
defected to Jordan, with one of them carrying secrets
about Iraq's alleged chemical weapons program. Six-
months later they received an official pardon from the
Iraqi president and returned to Baghdad. But shortly
after returning, the two men were gunned down in their
homes. (SIGNED)
NEB/RHE/GE/RAE
08-Sep-1999 08:49 AM LOC (08-Sep-1999 1249 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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