Key Saddam allies ‘captured’
American forces in northern Iraq claim to have seized key allies of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein.
A US officer announced that the prisoners were captured in the city of Mosul, where Saddam’s sons Qusay and Uday are rumoured to have been hiding.
It is not clear yet which senior figures from the former regime have been seized, but they have been described as being of “very high interest” to the coalition.
The men were taken into custody following a raid on a house during which one Iraqi was killed and five others injured.
The Pentagon has suggested that one or both of Saddam’s sons may have been killed in the raid, although this has not been confirmed.
A US official said: “There was a shootout in Mosul, and there is a number of dead people and a couple of them could be Uday and Qusay.”
US Central Command announced recently that it was placing a $15 million (£9.4 million) price on the heads of Uday and Qusay.
Witnesses claim that US soldiers came under fire as they approached the large villa and were forced to call in helicopter support.
American forces have so far captured 34 of the 55 Iraqis on a most-wanted list of members of Saddam’s regime, but no sign of Saddam Hussein or his sons has yet been found.
Lieutenant Colonel William Bishop of the 101st Airborne Division told the Reuters news agency today: “Individuals of very high interest to the coalition forces were hiding out in the building.”
“This morning we went to the building and surrounded it, and detained several of these high-interest personalities.”
Audio tapes, allegedly made by the former dictator, have been broadcast on Arab television and refer to recent events.
In the tapes the voice urges Iraqis to oppose the occupying troops.
A US soldier was killed and another injured earlier today when a convoy they were travelling in was hit by rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire along a road north of Baghdad.
