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Fat Man Forfeits $25 Million Reward Because He Was Pressured to Squeal
Saddam Hussein was finally betrayed by a relative who was one of his closest bodyguards, a BBC programme reveals. Panorama reports that after eight months on the run, the hiding place of the ousted Iraqi leader was given away by an aide known as "the fat man". The programme, to be broadcast on BBC One on Sunday, says Mohammed Ibrahim Omar al-Musslit gave away the secret after being arrested and interrogated. ... Mr Musslit was a loyal lieutenant of Saddam Hussein. He was one of the people who accompanied the Iraqi leader as he fled Baghdad in a white Oldsmobile, as US troops entered the city on 9 April 2003. But Panorama will reveal that he was quickly broken by interrogators after being captured in Baghdad, and led American troops to his boss just hours after being arrested in December. After his arrest, Mr Musslit was flown to Tikrit where he was interrogated. He was then made to point out the remote farm where Saddam Hussein was hiding. The 600 American soldiers there found nothing in the farm buildings, but discovered Saddam Hussein hiding in an underground passage. But because he did not willingly offer the information, the man who led the Americans to Saddam Husseinâs secret bunker near his home town of Tikrit will not benefit from the $25m reward that was on offer. A senior US commander, Major General Ray Odierno, denied the source had been tortured but told the programme that he was "a shady character", adding that he believed "the US treasury gets to keep the money." Posted by: Mike Sylwester 2004-03-27 |
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