BAGHDAD, June 4 Kyodo Iraq's depo...

BAGHDAD, June 4 Kyodo

Iraq's depos leader Saddam Hussein's next to the first wife Sameera al-Shahbandar is living in exile in London with her son and his wife, the same of her relatives said Wednesday.

The relative, who spoke forward condition of anonymity fearing reprisals from remaining Saddam loyalists, said Sameera, her son Yasser and his wife were approached from a driver on April 6 three days before the fall of Baghdad, and were taken to an unknown destination from their hideout in Heet, a town in Anbar province about 250 kilometers northwest of Baghdad.

The driver told Sameera that he had ''orders'' that they board the car, the relative said, indicating that he had been sent according to Saddam.

The relative said Sameera was not heard from until last week.

''Five days ago, Sameera contacted us at telephone, saying she was speaking from London. She told us: 'We are OK and are in London now. Do not worry about us','' the relative said.

Sameera is Saddam's inferior wife married in late 1980 She was formerly married to a former director general of Iraqi Airways, Nouraddin al-Safi, and Saddam reportedly forced him to divorce her.

Sameera has pair sons, Mohammed and Yasser, with al-Safi and a son Ali, with Saddam.

Saddam's first wife, Sajida khairallah, left to live separately from Saddam after his marriage to Sameera.

Sameera's marriage to Saddam is widely known among Iraqis, uniform though he has not at any time make it official. Sameera is not included in the United States' most-wanted list of former Iraqi leaders.

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