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SLUG: 2-302924 Baghdad / Bank Heist (S)
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DATE=5/06/03 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=BAGHDAD / BANK HEIST (S) NUMBER=2-302924 BYLINE=NICK SIMEONE DATELINE=WASHINGTON CONTENT=
VOICED AT: INTRO: U-S officials say as much as a billion dollars was stolen from Iraq's central bank just before the start of the war to topple Saddam Hussein in March, a robbery believed to have been carried out on orders of the Hussein family or its close associates. Correspondent Nick Simeone tells us about what could be one of the largest bank robberies in history. TEXT: U-S Treasury officials say they do not know where the roughly 900-million dollars in U-S currency and Euros were taken but are determined to find it and return it to the Iraqi people. The New York Times quotes an unidentified Iraqi official with knowledge of the incident as saying the money required three tractor-trailers to haul off and was withdrawn on direct orders of Saddam Hussein. Whether the former Iraqi leader or members of his family or government were able to use the money to buy their way into a neighboring country is not known. Daniel Goure is a former Defense Department official and now a national security analyst at the Lexington Institute. /// GOURE ACT /// A billion dollars can probably buy even Saddam Hussein some level of protection or a hideout somewhere in the world. /// END ACT /// The disappearance of the money reportedly took place March 18th, just hours before the first American bombs began falling on Baghdad. (SIGNED) NEB/NJS/RH/FC |
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