Did the CIA Deceive Saddam's Spokesman?
A M M A N, Jordan, Aug. 11 -- Months after Tariq Aziz, the urbane public face of Saddam Hussein's regime, turned himself in to U.S. forces, his family has accused American officials of reneging on the surrender agreement of the former Iraqi deputy prime minister.
In an exclusive interview with ABCNEWS' Good Morning America today, the wife and children of Saddam's best-known spokesman accused the CIA of failing to comply with an agreement allowing the family to keep in regular contact with him.
Aziz turned himself in April 24, days after the fall of Saddam, as the family watched images of Iraqis looting their abandoned Baghdad home and juggled with the difficult decision to surrender.
Under the terms of the deal, his family received safe passage to Jordan aboard a U.S. C-130 aircraft. Since then, they have lived in an apartment in the Jordanian capital of Amman provided by the Jordanian government.
But in an interview with ABCNEWS' David Wright in Amman, Aziz' daughter said U.S. officials negotiating the surrender had not kept their part of the deal.
"It's very hard to say this, but I think we've been deceived," said Zaineb Aziz.
Since his surrender, the Aziz family said they received just two letters from their father via the Red Cross. The latest communication, a brief note, arrived last week.
"We never saw him since that day," said his son, Saddam Aziz. "We never had any contact with him, except for the letters from the Red Cross."
White House officials have refused to comment on the allegation. The Pentagon, for its part, issued a statement maintaining all detainees in Iraq were being held humanely and in accordance with the requirements of the Geneva Conventions.
A Believer to the Bitter End
The surrender of Saddam's most famous spokesman was viewed around the world as yet another symbol of the humiliating gap between Iraqi officials' confident prewar bluster and the rapid decline when the end finally came.
In an interview with ABCNEWS on Jan 30 during the nerve-wracking lead-up to the war, Aziz vowed the Iraqi people and military would not surrender.
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