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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Confusion over whether or not al-Douri's been jugged |
| 2004-09-05 |
| Iraq's government is mired in confusion on whether the most wanted Saddam Hussein aide still on the run has been caught, with the defence minister denying his own ministry's report the fugitive had been seized. Defence Minister Hazim al-Shalaan said reports of the arrest of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, who was sixth on a U.S. list of the 55 most wanted members of Saddam's administration and had a $10 million (5.6 million pound) price on his head, were baseless. "We don't have any information regarding this issue. What has been said of a statement by the Defence Ministry is baseless," he told Lebanon's LBC television channel on Sunday. He was directly contradicting reports from his own spokesmen, who said earlier that Ibrahim had been arrested in Tikrit, Saddam's former powerbase north of Baghdad. Two Iraqi ministers said the capture followed a bloody raid in which 150 of Ibrahim's supporters tried to prevent his capture. Iraqi Minister of State Wael Abdul al-Latif said it was "75 to 90 percent certain" Ibrahim had been seized, adding that 70 of the former official's supporters were killed and 80 captured when they tried to thwart his arrest. He said Arabs from outside Iraq had been among those protecting Ibrahim, who was suffering from leukaemia. "He's in a very deteriorated state of health," Latif said. Latif said U.S.-backed Iraqi forces captured Ibrahim, but the U.S. military said it had no knowledge of such an operation and the fugitive was not in U.S. custody. In Washington, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said of the reported arrest: "We're still trying to confirm that. We've seen the news reports." The provincial Iraqi National Guard commander in Tikrit said none of his men were involved in any capture mission. "We have no information. No units of ours took part in such an operation," Major General Ahmed Khalaf Salman said. There was also no sign around Tikrit of any battle involving dozens killed. An aide to Iraq's prime minister said DNA tests were under way to confirm whether a man in Iraqi custody was Ibrahim. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |