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Saddam must move more often
07/08/2003 16:19 - (SA)
D'Arcy Doran
Tikrit - Saddam Hussein has been forced to move at least three times a day because of mounting raids by US forces on sites where soldiers have found evidence that someone extremely important - perhaps the ousted Iraqi leader himself - had been hiding, a US general said on Thursday.
As the raids eat away at Saddam's support network, it has become increasingly difficult for guerrilla leaders to find foot soldiers willing to attack US forces - driving the amount paid for a successful attack as high as $5 000 from $1 000, said Major General Ray Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, citing army intelligence.
"He is clearly moving three or four times every single day," Odierno told a news conference at his headquarters in one of Saddam's former palaces. "From some of the raids we've done there are indications that somebody has been moving through there - somebody extremely important."
Saddam is likely being protected by a network tribal and family supporters who are helping him move around, Odierno said.
The manhunt for the dictator is now focussing on a certain kind of terrain and building - in both rural and urban areas - that Saddam can exploit for security purposes, he added, declining to elaborate further.
Soldiers from the 22nd Infantry's first battalion believe they came within 24 hours of catching Saddam's new security chief - and possibly the dictator himself - at a farm in eastern Tikrit on July 27. Support structure affected
In the past two weeks, soldiers in Tikrit alone have captured Saddam's Tikrit security chief, three Iraqi generals, several Fedayeen militia organisers and one of Saddam's most trusted bodyguards, who is believed have knowledge of the dictator's hideouts.
"I don't know if we're getting closer or not," Odierno said. "But there are signs that we are taking down a lot of people who were close to him."
All raids, even those not targeting Saddam, crank up the pressure on the former dictator - making his life in hiding more difficult, the general said.
"He must move often because his support structure has been affected," he said.
Tips
Since the death of his sons Uday and Qusay last month, each raid triggers a new flurry of tips that fuel new operations, said Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell, commander of the 22nd Infantry Regiment's 1st Battalion, which has conducted the Tikrit raids.
"We are eroding all of the support of the former regime and as we continue to do so, it just collapses," Russell said, after completing a series of pre-dawn raids on Thursday that netted four suspected Fedayeen organizers. "Each raid seems to feed on itself now.
The success of the raids has also made it more difficult for guerrilla leaders to mount attacks on US troops, Odierno said.
Guerrilla organisers have been forced to increase the amount they pay for attacks on coalition forces to $1 000 from $250. Militia paymasters will now give $5 000, up from $1 000, if an attack kills a US soldier, Odierno said.
"The pay has significantly gone up, which is a good thing because it shows they're starting to have trouble recruiting people," he said.
Each day, the 4th Infantry Division receives four or five reports that Saddam is hiding in cities ranging from Kirkuk to Baqouba to Tikrit, every tip is investigated, Odierno said.
If Saddam was found, the goal would be to capture him alive, the general said, but added Saddam's bodyguards would probably put up a fierce firefight.
"Would we like to take him alive if we catch him? Absolutely. It would be helpful to put him in front of the Iraqi people and let them see that we have captured him," he said.
- AP
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