ROISSY AIRPORT, France, 13 April 2003 — Mohammad Aldouri, Iraq’s ambassador to the United Nations, was en route to the Middle East yesterday after a brief stopover in Paris, after stating his hopes for a new relationship between Iraq and the United States.
Speaking to CNN outside his New York residence late Friday before leaving the United States, Aldouri said he was returning to the region to search for his family. His destination was Damascus, the network said.
Asked how he felt about images of Saddam Hussein being torn down, Aldouri replied: “He is no more in the government so we are looking for the future.”
Aldouri arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport at Roissy near the French capital on an Air France flight at noon (1000 GMT), airport officials said.
He did not leave the airport’s transit area and took off for Damascus on another Air France flight at 2:25 p.m. (1225 GMT).
Aldouri, who as Iraq’s representative to the United Nations had been a thorn in Washington’s side, said he hoped to return to the US under happier circumstances.
Aldouri said he had had no information from his relatives since the war began on March 20. “I am seeking any kind of information about my family, this is the most important reason why I am leaving the United States.”
Dashing from his residence to a vehicle waiting to take him to John F. Kennedy airport, the previously strident diplomat thanked the CNN correspondent interviewing him and apologized for having been “very tough.”
“I would like to thank also the people of New York and the people of United States, they are very decent people,” he added.
Hours earlier, in an interview with AFP at UN headquarters, Aldouri had said that since no replacement for his position at the UN had yet been named he was still Iraq’s legal representative to the world body.
