Iraq’s Ambassador Representative to the U.S. Rend Al-Rehim–who, incidentally, hasn’t actually lived in Iraq since 1978–was on CNN’s “Late Edition” yesterday and gave this indication of her relative standing on the totem pole:
BLITZER: When were you personally informed what was going on [Saddam’s capture]?
AL-RAHIM: 6:00 a.m. this morning.
BLITZER: Who called you?
AL-RAHIM: I got a call from my mother in Beirut, who said that she has been sitting by the phone for three hours, waiting to call me. And soon after that, I started getting calls from Baghdad, as well, and from around the U.S., people — Iraqis mostly — calling to congratulate.
Good thing this prominent Iraqi figure has her Lebanese mom to, you know, keep her abreast of what’s going on in Iraq. Sounds like she must be a major player.
An autonomous Iraqi government is just around the corner.