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
.