The wife and daughter of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein have been added to Iraq's new list of most-wanted fugitives, authorities said on Sunday.

The list includes Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the former Iraqi president's deputy and the highest ranking official still at large, and the new head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Ayyub al-Masri.

Saddam's daughter, Raghd, has taken a leading role in organizing her father's legal defense in his trial in Baghdad for crimes against humanity. She is believed to spend much of her time in neighboring Jordan.

His wife, Sajida Khairallah Tulfah, is thought to live in the Gulf state of Qatar.

Muwaffaq al-Rubaie, Iraq's national security adviser, said on Sunday: "This list will be posted everywhere in government institutions, mosques and elsewhere to help track them down.

"Those people are responsible for most of the bombings and indiscriminate killings aimed at hurting the Iraqi people and starting a sectarian war between Sunnis and Shias."

Al-Rubaie added that neighboring countries should help to arrest those on the list.

Jordanian guest

But Maaruf Bakhit, the Jordanian prime minister, said Raghd was under the royal family's protection.

"The presence of Mrs Raghd Saddam Hussein and her children in Jordan is motivated by humanitarian considerations," the premier told the official Petra news agency.

"She is the guest of the Hashemite royal family (of King Abdullah II) and under its protection as a seeker of asylum" in accordance with Arab tradition, Bakhit added.

He also said that Raghd had fulfilled the conditions of her asylum by refraining from engaging in "any political or media activities".

The premier insisted his government had yet to receive any formal extradition request for Raghd from the Iraqi authorities.

"Any such request will have to be made according to the procedures in force in Jordan and Jordan will handle any request it receives in the appropriate manner," he said.

Saddam lawyer

Meanwhile, the lawyer leading Saddam Hussein's defense team dismissed as baseless charges that the deposed leader's wife and eldest daughter supported the insurgency in Iraq.

"These accusations are totally without legal basis, and the laws of Interpol are not a game in the hands of a certain party since they do not apply to (Saddam's daughter) Raghd or Sajida (his wife)," lead counsel Khalil al-Dulaimi said in Amman.

He accused the United States of "choosing to decide who it calls terrorists... but one has to ask who the real world terrorist is who violates the sovereignty of states".

Photo Caption

Saddam Hussein