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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
By Casey Cooper-Fiske

Veteran broadcaster admits question he asked Saddam Hussein now makes him ‘cringe’

Saddam Hussein Trevor McDonald
  • Veteran journalist Sir Trevor McDonald has revealed he "cringes" at a question he posed to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during their landmark 1990 interview.
  • The 86-year-old will re-examine the ITN broadcast, filmed in a Baghdad palace after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, for a new ITV series, Reporting History.
  • Sir Trevor admitted he would change his opening question if he were to conduct the interview again today, finding his original phrasing "a particularly biting commentary".
  • He asked: “Mr President, the invasion of a neighbouring country with such calculated force and brutality is a very un-Arab thing to do, isn’t it?”
  • He also recounted how he and his team were "roughed up" and strip-searched on their way to the interview, highlighting the unpredictable nature of the situation.

IN FULL

Trevor McDonald reveals question he asked Saddam Hussein makes him ‘cringe’

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