Saddam's exiled daughter looks forward to a role in the political process in Iraq soon

Shafaq News/ Raghad Saddam Hussein, the eldest daughter of the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, said on Monday that she might consider playing a political role in Iraq in the coming period, provoking infuriating reactions among the ruling political class in Baghdad.

Raghad was speaking in a television interview, part of which was broadcast by the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya channel, when she answered a question about the possibility of playing a political role saying, "Everything is possible and on the scene, all options and all possibilities."

Raghad preempted revealing her desire by saying that she was not interested in politics under her father's rule, like the rest of the women in the family who were far from political. Still, she found herself forced to engage after her father's trial, which ended with his execution.

Raghad said in the meeting that her father, who fought a long war against Iran and invaded neighboring Kuwait and crushed internal uprisings, "does not like wars, but his country's position, prestige, wealth, and position forced him to make war decisions as a moral duty."

An Iraqi parliamentary committee called on the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia and Jordan and to deliver them two protest notes against the backdrop of a television interview that has not yet been broadcasted with Raghad Saddam Hussein.

The head of the Martyrs, Victims, and Political Prisoners committee in the Iraqi parliament, Abd al-Ilah al-Naeli, submitted an official letter to the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to summon the ambassadors of the kingdoms of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, against the backdrop of hosting the Saudi “Al-Arabiya” channel, the daughter of the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, on a television program, and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for being her residence.

The committee considered that hosting the exiled daughter of Hussein is a “blatant transgression” of the Iraqi people and their sacrifices in fighting the “Baath” party.

Raghad Hussein had spoken in the recorded interview about “Iran’s occupation of Iraq and the refusal to divide its country,” provided that she presents her full interview today.