We will not give Saddam’s daughters asylum, say British authorities

SADDAM Hussein’s daughters will not be given asylum in Britain, a Home Office source said yesterday.

A cousin of the former Iraqi dictator landed in Britain yesterday and is believed to be organising asylum applications on behalf of the two daughters, Raghad and Rana Hussein.

But a Home Office source said if they did claim asylum, they would be turned down.

He said: "We are not in the business of giving asylum to people who abuse human rights, including Saddam Hussein's family."

Raghad and Rana Hussein are believed to be planning to apply for asylum in Leeds.

But the source said the chances of them getting to Britain in the first place were "pretty unlikely".

They would have to apply for visas or enter the country covertly.

Officials at Leeds Bradford airport confirmed a KLM flight from Amsterdam landed yesterday morning with Saddam's cousin Izzi-Din Mohammed Hassan al-Majid on board.

It is understood Mr al-Majid was spoken to by immigration officials before being allowed to continue his journey.

Mr al-Majid claimed yesterday that the sisters, and their 10 children, were making final arrangements to head to Britain from Iraq.

He told The Sun: "Saddam's daughters had British schools and hospitals in mind when they decided to ask for asylum especially the schools.

"I believe the UK Government will take them in because they have always been known to protect people and give them asylum."

The Daily Mail reported that their mother Sajida Hussein, 66, was now also applying for a safe haven in Britain.

She split from Saddam in the 1980s and is also the mother of infamous sons Uday and Qusay.

She is believed to be in hiding in northern Iraq along with her daughters, the newspaper said.

The two women's husbands were assassinated in 1996 after they defected to Jordan and were then lured back to Iraq.

A Home Office spokesman said today there was no evidence to suggest that Saddam's daughters were applying for asylum.