Did the CIA Deceive Saddam's Spokesman?

A M M A N, Jordan, Aug. 11, 2003 -- 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.

From their Amman exile, his family said Aziz truly believed Iraqi forces would rally, and said the family never even packed a bag in anticipation of the end.

Reality struck on April 9, however, said Aziz' wife, Violet. On that day, television images showed U.S. tanks in the streets of Baghdad. "We realized Baghdad had fallen and we started crying," she recalled.

The next few days passed in terror as the family moved from house to house, watching their world crumble as looters ransacked the Baathist official's Baghdad home.

"Our house has been looted," said Zainab. "Our family home has been looted and destroyed.

'I Am Ready to Surrender'

In the end, when the surrender of Iraq's most erudite senior official finally came, it was uneventful, if tragic.

"Around 11:30, the Americans arrived at the house," recounted Violet between sobs. "He was sitting next to me and his sisters. They came inside and he said. 'I am ready to surrender.'"

According to Zainab, her father negotiated his surrender solely for the well being of his children and grandchildren. "I think he believed he would be treated fairly," she said.

Although the family said it feels it has been let down under the terms of the negotiation, Aziz' wife and son still have faith in his captors.

"The Americans are very fair and very good people," said Saddam. "They know who is a criminal and who is not. And I would ask them to treat my father fairly — and to release him as soon as they finish."

'Groucho Marx' With Survival Skills

With a penchant for French wine, Aziz was a polished diplomat who survived the shifting fortunes under the patronage of Saddam. With his trademark Cuban cigars and his glasses and moustache, his appearance was sometimes compared to that of Groucho Marx. But the image belied his well honed political and survival skills.

His excellent command of the English language and his diplomatic history made Aziz the model for Saddam's minority policy. An Assyrian Christian with an English literature degree from Baghdad University, Aziz rose to the top of the Baath Party ranks and has negotiated with heads of state and foreign ministers across the world.

But while he was the public face of Iraqi diplomacy, U.S. officials tacitly acknowledge that in the domestic sphere, he may not have been a major player.

In the U.S.-issued deck of most wanted former Iraqi officials, the former Iraqi deputy prime minister is a lowly eight of spades.

U.S. officials in Iraq had hoped his proximity to Saddam's inner circle would lead to the capture of the former Iraqi dictator, as well as information on Iraq's alleged weapons program cited by the Bush administration in making its case for a war.

So far, coalition troops have found no evidence Iraq was pursuing weapons of mass destruction programs since U.N. sanctions were imposed at the end of the 1991 Gulf War.

But in a May 3 speech, President Bush accused Aziz of failing to tell the truth.

"Tariq Aziz still doesn't know how to tell the truth," said Bush. "He didn't know how to tell the truth when he was in office. He doesn't know how to tell the truth as a captive."

Telling the Truth

His family insists Aziz has no knowledge of Saddam's whereabouts.

"If he doesn't know the truth, how can he tell it?" asked Violet. "He would not lie to the Americans. He simply can't say what he doesn't know."

When asked if her father knew about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program, Zaineb implied she did not believe it existed.

"They [U.S. officials] are going to detain him long enough so that they can find weapons of mass destruction; they are going to detain him for a long time," she said.

His family maintains despite the former Iraqi regime's abysmal human rights record, Aziz personally is not guilty of crimes against humanity.

"If they have proof that he has blood on his hands, there should be a trial, right?" asked Zainab.

More than three months after his surrender, Violet still holds out hope one of Iraq's most adept diplomats will make it through his latest ordeal and that she might be able to see him again.

"Insha'allah, [God willing]," said Violet with a sad smile when asked if she thought she would ever see her husband again. "Insha'allah."