Iraqi officials say they want her to stand trial. Many Jordanians say she's a guest of their royal family. So far, the effort to extradite former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's eldest daughter, Raghad, to Iraq is shaping up as more of a political tiff than a legal battle.
Jordan and Iraq do share an extradition treaty. But most political analysts say they never expect the case of Raghad to get anywhere close to that step, regardless of how much pressure Iraq's Shiite-led government applies.
"Raghad is a guest in Jordan under King Abdullah II's protec-tion," political commentator Fahd Fanek told reporters this week. "The king cannot ignore Arab traditions by surrendering someone under his care."
A Jordanian judge, who spoke on condition of anonymity, agreed that the matter of Raghad's extradition is "a higher political decision" rather than a legal issue.
In part, the struggle over Raghad is a sign of the growing political tensions between Iraq's Shiite-led government and its largely Sunni-dominated Arab neighbors, including Jordan. On a trip last week to the Gulf, Iraq's new prime minister repeatedly urged Arab countries to stop any support for the country's deadly Sunni-led insurgency.
Raghad herself -- while clearly an annoyance to the Iraqi government -- had lived mostly in obscurity in Jordan except for her work on her father's legal defense, until Iraq last week put her on a list of its 41 most wanted.
Iraqi officials went out of their way to say they would ask countries to extradite those on the list, or at least prevent them from supporting the insurgency.
"We will work toward demanding their extradition or at least silencing them and not allowing them to make some Arab ... country a base for their terrorist activities," said Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite.
Iraqi national security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie echoed those remarks, saying: "Any person whose name is mentioned in this list is wanted, no matter in what country they are staying ... those countries have been contacted and the government is serious and doing all it can to bring them back."
Jordan, however, says it has not yet received an extradition re-quest. Jordanian government spokesman Nasser Judeh said: "Our position is very clear: Once we receive something official through the proper channels, then we will study it."
Judeh refused to say whether Jordan would be obliged to comply with an extradition request, when and if it is made by Iraq.
Jordan's king granted Raghad and her sister, Rana, asylum on humanitarian grounds after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.
Saddam's wife, Sajida Khairallah Tulfah, also on the list, lives in Qatar.
Raghad, known as "Little Saddam" because she shares her father's strident temperament, was ranked No. 16 on the list of 41 most wanted. The Iraqi government accuses her and other Baathists of using millions stolen by Saddam to help finance the insurgency.
Raghad lives in Jordan under the condition that she not engage in political activities or make public statements, officials have said.
Yet she has very publicly organized her father's legal defense in his trial, ongoing in Baghdad, for crimes against humanity.
The extradition issue has become something of a "hot potato" even inside the Iraqi government.
One senior Sunni official criticized the most-wanted list, saying its timing was not convenient and "could create problems with neighboring countries."
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