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02-12-03, 18:24
US denies capturing Saddam aide
US forces have denied reports that they have captured a top Saddam Hussein deputy during a raid in northern Iraq. A member of Iraq's Governing Council said earlier Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri had been caught in the raid near Kirkuk. But Major Doug Vincent of the 173rd Airborne Brigade told reporters with the troops Mr Douri was "definitely not captured in today's mission".
Mr Douri is the highest ranking regime official still at large other than Saddam Hussein himself. The US has a $10m bounty on the man it accuses of being one of the key organisers of the insurgency around Samarra and Tikrit.
The BBC's Peter Greste in Baghdad says the Iraqis are referring to some "big fish" having been caught in the raid in the town of Hawija, 45km (30miles) west of Kirkuk. Speaking after the US denial, Kirkuk police chief Torhan Abulrahman told Reuters news agency "the possibility we have Izzat Ibrahim is more than 80%, but I can't say for sure whether he has been killed or captured yet".
Insurgency
Saddam Hussein biographer Simon Henderson told the BBC that the capture of Mr Douri would be "a considerable victory for the Americans and a considerable defeat for the insurgency". According to the French news agency AFP, Mr Douri's eldest son Ahmad has been commanding two insurgent brigades of 250 men each. Ahmad is receiving instructions and funds from his father, AFP reported, citing an Iraqi police official. The unnamed official said several members of the brigades had been captured in the raids. One of Mr Douri's wives and a daughter were detained last week, along with the son of his doctor.
Disputed battle
The raid comes amid an ongoing dispute about a battle in Samarra on Sunday. The US says as many as 54 people were killed when two American convoys came under attack in the city, but morgue officials say they handled only eight dead. US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt has said the military's figures are only estimates, based on what he called battlefield reports.
No Americans were killed in the battle, the fiercest since President George W Bush declared major combat operations at an end on 1 May. The convoys that came under attack were carrying new Iraqi banknotes. The battle rounded off a month that saw the highest number of US casualties in the country since the war.
A US soldier was killed by a roadside bomb on Tuesday as a convoy left Samarra, military sources said. But Mr Bush insisted on Tuesday that the US "will not be intimidated by a bunch of thugs and assassins" in Iraq. "We will finish what we have begun and we will win this... victory in the war against terror", he said.
Saddam confidant
Mr Douri, the possible target of Monday night's raid, was one of Saddam Hussein's closest and most trusted associates. Mr Henderson, the Saddam Hussein biographer, said Mr Douri is likely to have been in touch with the deposed Iraqi leader - and might know where he is. But he said it is not clear that Mr Douri would voluntarily tell the Americans that information even if captured alive. He is rumoured to be in poor health, and is known to have suffered from leukaemia in the past.
Mr Douri was one of the key plotters who carried out the coup that brought the Baath Party to power in 1968. In later years he served as the Iraqi leader's number two in the powerful Revolution Command Council, as vice-chairman. He is the King of Clubs in the US "most wanted" deck of cards issued to help identify former regime members.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3257424.stm
US forces have denied reports that they have captured a top Saddam Hussein deputy during a raid in northern Iraq. A member of Iraq's Governing Council said earlier Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri had been caught in the raid near Kirkuk. But Major Doug Vincent of the 173rd Airborne Brigade told reporters with the troops Mr Douri was "definitely not captured in today's mission".
Mr Douri is the highest ranking regime official still at large other than Saddam Hussein himself. The US has a $10m bounty on the man it accuses of being one of the key organisers of the insurgency around Samarra and Tikrit.
The BBC's Peter Greste in Baghdad says the Iraqis are referring to some "big fish" having been caught in the raid in the town of Hawija, 45km (30miles) west of Kirkuk. Speaking after the US denial, Kirkuk police chief Torhan Abulrahman told Reuters news agency "the possibility we have Izzat Ibrahim is more than 80%, but I can't say for sure whether he has been killed or captured yet".
Insurgency
Saddam Hussein biographer Simon Henderson told the BBC that the capture of Mr Douri would be "a considerable victory for the Americans and a considerable defeat for the insurgency". According to the French news agency AFP, Mr Douri's eldest son Ahmad has been commanding two insurgent brigades of 250 men each. Ahmad is receiving instructions and funds from his father, AFP reported, citing an Iraqi police official. The unnamed official said several members of the brigades had been captured in the raids. One of Mr Douri's wives and a daughter were detained last week, along with the son of his doctor.
Disputed battle
The raid comes amid an ongoing dispute about a battle in Samarra on Sunday. The US says as many as 54 people were killed when two American convoys came under attack in the city, but morgue officials say they handled only eight dead. US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt has said the military's figures are only estimates, based on what he called battlefield reports.
No Americans were killed in the battle, the fiercest since President George W Bush declared major combat operations at an end on 1 May. The convoys that came under attack were carrying new Iraqi banknotes. The battle rounded off a month that saw the highest number of US casualties in the country since the war.
A US soldier was killed by a roadside bomb on Tuesday as a convoy left Samarra, military sources said. But Mr Bush insisted on Tuesday that the US "will not be intimidated by a bunch of thugs and assassins" in Iraq. "We will finish what we have begun and we will win this... victory in the war against terror", he said.
Saddam confidant
Mr Douri, the possible target of Monday night's raid, was one of Saddam Hussein's closest and most trusted associates. Mr Henderson, the Saddam Hussein biographer, said Mr Douri is likely to have been in touch with the deposed Iraqi leader - and might know where he is. But he said it is not clear that Mr Douri would voluntarily tell the Americans that information even if captured alive. He is rumoured to be in poor health, and is known to have suffered from leukaemia in the past.
Mr Douri was one of the key plotters who carried out the coup that brought the Baath Party to power in 1968. In later years he served as the Iraqi leader's number two in the powerful Revolution Command Council, as vice-chairman. He is the King of Clubs in the US "most wanted" deck of cards issued to help identify former regime members.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3257424.stm