Baghdad : The eldest daughter of late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein intends to launch a new tribal coalition to run in the country’s 2018 national elections, media outlets reported on Friday.
Raghad Saddam Hussein, 48, currently lives in Jordan but could return to Iraq under a controversial amnesty passed by Parliament last month.
The Jordanian royal family rejected a request from Iraq’s Foreign Ministry in May to extradite Raghad and other figures from Saddam’s regime who are wanted by the country’s judiciary.
In April 2010, the international police organisation Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Raghad primarily at Baghdad’s request.
She is sought by the Iraqi government on suspicion of terrorism and has openly pledged her support for the Islamic State jihadist group.
Raghad is said to live a lavish lifestyle in Jordan, where she fled with her two younger sisters and mother after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 as guests of King Abdullah II.
She was charged in November 2006 with supporting the insurgency.
Iraq’s Central Criminal Court of Iraq later issued a revised arrest warrant allegedly based on evidence that directly linked Raghad to terrorist bombings aimed at disrupting Iraq’s 2010 national elections.