US battles for a full deck

2003-04-22 16:44

Baghdad - US intelligence is methodically working its way through the deck-of-cards analogy it applied to the ousted Iraqi regime but producing Saddam Hussein is thwarting Washington's bid to come up trumps.

The Iraqi National Congress (INC) believes Saddam - the ace of spades - was last sighted four days ago inside Iraq.

He was also apparently seen in Baghdad as it fell on April 9.

Others even say he has undergone plastic surgery in northern Kirkuk.

Or he could also be cruising around Iraq in a luxurious motorhome, the rare Bluebird Wanderlodge 79, reportedly the same model preferred for vacations by Hollywood pin-up Tom Cruise.

One videotape purportedly shows Saddam among a crowd of cheering supporters on April 9 when Baghdad fell to US marines.

That was two days after some coalition sources said he was killed in the targeted bombing of a residential area at the height of the war.

American authorities say DNA tests of the sites could be made, and are hesitant about speculation.

Asked about INC leader Ahmad Chalabi's claim of recent Saddam sightings, US Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said on Tuesday: "There is no current credible intelligence that tells us that."

But reports persist.

In Balad, 8km north of Baghdad, one Iraqi is adamant that Saddam and his cousin, "Chemical Ali" (Ali Hasan al-Majid), were hiding nearby after being injured in an attack.

Ali earned his nickname for killing 5 000 Kurds in 1988 with chemical weapons and was thought to be killed in a bombing in the southern city of Basra.

"They are injured and went to see a doctor and are hiding with Sheikh Faisoh Jenabi near entrance number three," the man claimed without further explanation.

Nose and mouth job

Another Iraqi claims in the foyer of Baghdad's Palestine Hotel: "Saddam is in Kirkuk having his mouth and nose changed with an operation. I know this because my friend told me."

To date, the US has nabbed eight from the list of 55 "most wanted."

The highest rated is number 18 and the queen of spades, Hamza al-Zubaidi of the Revolution Command Council. The lowest ranked at 55 is General Amir al-Saadi, Saddam's top weapons advisor, who turned himself in.

Others include Saddam's son-in law, Jamal Mustafa Abdullah Sultan, regional Baath party chairman Samir al-Aziz al-Najim, former deputy prime minister Hikmat al-Azzawi and former education minister Human abd al-Khaliq al-Ghafar.

Two half-brothers of the ousted leader, former intelligence chief Barzan al-Tikriti and his brother, Watban Ibrahim Hasan, are also under arrest.

'Paltry' $200 000 reward

Finding Saddam has taken on the same proportions among Iraqis as the whereabouts of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, despite US authorities playing down the Baghdad strongman's importance with a paltry $200 000 bounty on his head.

That compares with $25m for bin Laden, dead or alive.

But the much smaller amount on offer for Saddam was broadcast on Iraqi radio five days ago and according to Staff Sergeant Thomas Saunders created absolute mayhem at the Palestine Hotel, a focal point for Iraqis.

"I was the guy they had to come and see, and I dealt with between 400 and 500 people on the first day alone, so now I just send them way," he said.

"We had one guy who claimed to be Saddam's cousin. He wasn't, but we put him in with the other prisoners anyway. Everyone knows their hideouts, where the relatives are and the chemical weapons. It's rubbish and out of hand."

'Most in Syria'

But according to Talib Zangana of the Free Iraqi Forces, a group of US-based Iraqi expatriate fighters linked to the INC, most of the regime fled to Syria and left behind deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz to fool the world into believing the entire government had stayed in Baghdad.

According to an INC official, Sultan negotiated his surrender from Syria. Watban was captured at the Syrian and Iraqi border.

"That's where they are, and it will be a real blow if the Americans don't get him; it will be just like bin Laden," Zangana said.

But if Saddam fled to Syria then perhaps he used one of his 18 specialised motorhomes which, according to US enthusiast David Winclair, the Iraqi leader had acquired more than 10 years ago.

"It was known in the Wanderlodge community that several Arab leaders had them, expecially that Hussein had 17 to 18 of them, similar to mine," Winclair said.

His information was passed on and used by the Pentagon, and Winclair was thanked for recognising the rare vehicle in television footage.

- AFX