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Dec 22 2003 |
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From Chris Hughes Down Saddam's Hole In Ab Dawr, Iraq. Pictures: Ian Vogler |
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PANIC sets in within seconds in this dark, damp hell-hole. There is almost no air, it seems like the walls will cave in at any second, the stench of sweat and moist earth is sickening. This is a desperate place and only a desperate man could possibly stay here - and, of course, he did.
FINAL STAND: Reporter Chris Hughes finds there is barely enough room to sit up in Saddam's tiny hiding place despite being at least three inches shorter than the former Iraqi leader Welcome to Saddam's last hiding place. Even the approach to the hole is frightening. A gauntlet of hatred through hamlets in the heart of the toppled Iraqi leader's homeland Tikrit. On dusty street corners of Ab Dawr, where Saddam was captured, sullen youths spit at American troops. Militiamen in balaclavas armed with AK47s are there supposedly to maintain order - but look terrified. My armoured convoy ground to a halt at the edge of a 10ft-high corn field. Beyond the field there is a dense date palm grove, its canopy hiding the cave's concrete cover for so long from US helicopters.
SADDAM'S SHORTS: Mirrorman Hughes displays a filthy pair belonging to the tyrant Even at ground level, the hole is easy to miss, a neat foot-square entrance cut into the bare earth. This was the final home of the Ace of Spades - the irony of the nickname given to the man who loved digging bunkers is not lost on soldiers guarding it. Lowering into the cavern, using the earthen steps cut out of the 7ft deep shaft, is scary for even the slightly claustrophobic. Natural light vanishes in the main chamber - a 5ft-long coffin. There is just room to sit up, wedged between the damp walls. A torch reveals a cockroach. To the left there is an air vent and tiny fluorescent light, bolted into the roof. Saddam is at least three inches taller than my six foot. He would have been painfully uncomfortable. Above ground, rotting fruit lies on a kitchen table beneath a wooden lean-to. Tea cups stained with the residue of hot drinks are trampled into the mud. There is even an empty box of 30 Bounty bars.
LAST SUPPER: Saddam's kitchen above ground - just as he left it Medication, tablets and clothes are scattered on the floor; a pair of black and yellow Bermuda shorts, large-sized and caked in dirt, lie in a corner. A wooden ladder is mounted against the lean-to which lies 10ft from the hole to allow look-outs to scan the approaches to the tiny bunker. Water is provided by a rainfall tank, attached to a pipe flowing to a tap in the kitchen. A piece of flex links up to a house nearby for electricity. A shack with a hole in the ground makes for a lavatory. Nearby, Major Gordon Tate of the US army sneered: "He lived like a lion and was captured like a rat."
UNDERGROUND WORLD: Chris sits in the place where Saddam would have spent much of his time At the scene yesterday, Colonel James Hickey confirmed that, at 5.15pm last Saturday, he issued the orders that led to Saddam's capture. By 7.30pm, a convoy of troops sped down Highway One - the road leading south of Tikrit - with blacked out lights. Special Forces were slowly advancing through the fields using night-vision goggles. Col Hickey told the Mirror: "We believed he was in a hide-out and we sought to identify that objective." Special Forces with listening devices, heard noise from underground. As one approached the camouflaged Styrofoam lid to the cave, which lay under masonry and cloth, a man emerged, lit up by torch light. It was Saddam Hussein, offering to negotiate. As Major Tate said yesterday: "A little too late." But still some Iraqis don't believe it.
BOUNTY HUNTER: An empty box of Bounty chocolate bars was found above Saddam's cave One of the few Ab Dawr locals prepared to speak, Adil al-Tikriti, 33, said: "Many people believe the Americans are lying about having caught Saddam." Pictures of Saddam being captured show dates on the palm trees. Iraqis claim dates would have fallen to the ground by this time of year. But when we visited the area yesterday, we saw unpicked and unfallen rotting dates on the trees. In one final irony, Saddam was snatched within sight of his lavish £160million Salah al-Din palace. During moments in the open, he must have stared at his palace - knowing he would never enter it again. |
