Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter Raghd accused close aides of her father today of betraying the former Iraqi president and said he had told her to leave Baghdad as US forces closed in.
Describing the collapse of her father's 24-year iron rule in April, Raghd told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television in an interview she was in Baghdad with her sister Rana sitting by the radio all night following the news and praying.
"I kept telling my sister it was all over," said Raghd. "Shortly after 12 noon my father sent us cars from his special protection forces with a message saying 'Leave'."
Raghd (36) who along with Rana (34) was offered asylum in Jordan after arriving in Amman yesterday with their nine children, did not give a date for Saddam's instruction to quit. US-forces captured Baghdad on April 9th.
She said she and Rana joined their mother Sajida and their youngest sister Hala at a house on the outskirts of Baghdad as Saddam's rule ended.
"We almost lost total contact with my father and brothers because things collapsed," said Raghd.
"We were a group of women and we had to decide about the next steps. My mother said: 'Daughter spread out. Each one should find a place to stay in until we see what God wills for us'. We got separated until this moment," said Raghd.
"The shelling was shaking the house we were in. We got into small cars and I had my gun with me. I kept it under my feet. I am not a professional but I know how to use weapons to a certain extent. We were going into an unknown fate..."
The husbands of Raghd and Rana were both killed in 1996 on the orders of Saddam, whom she described as a "very good father", after being accused of giving information about Iraq's weapons to the West.
Saddam's third and favourite daughter Hala is believed to be still in Iraq. Her husband General Jamal Mustafa Tikriti was arrested after the fall of Saddam. The whereabouts of Sajida, Saddam's first wife, is still unknown.