Playing card showing Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti. Hassan, a half-brother of ousted president Saddam Hussein, accused of masterminding Iraq's deadly insurgency from neighbouring Syria, has been arrested, officials said.(AFP/USDoD/File)
Posted on 02/27/2005 12:21:22 PM PST by TexKat
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi officials said Sunday that Syrian authorities had captured Saddam Hussein's half brother and 29 other officials of the deposed dictator's Baath party in Syria and handed them over to Iraq in an apparent goodwill gesture.
The arrests dealt a blow to an insurgency that some Iraqi officials claim Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan was helping organize and fund from Syria.
Al-Hassan, a former Saddam adviser, was captured in Hasakah in northeastern Syria near the Iraqi border, two senior Iraqi officials told The Associated Press by telephone on condition of anonymity. Hasakah is about 50 kilometres from Iraq.
They added that al-Hassan was captured and handed over to Iraqi authorities along with 29 other members of the Baath party, whose Syrian branch has been in power in Damascus since 1963.
The Iraqi officials did not specify when al-Hassan was captured, only saying he was detained following the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut in a blast that also killed 16 others.
Syria has come under intense scrutiny following Hariri's death, with many in Lebanon blaming Damascus and Beirut's pro-Syrian government for the killing. The United States and France also have called on Damascus to withdraw 15,000 Syrian troops from Lebanon.
Washington has long accused Syria of harbouring and aiding former members of the toppled Baathist regime suspected of involvement in the deadly insurgency.
"The capture appeared to be a goodwill gesture by the Syrians to show that they are co-operating," one Iraqi official said.
A third Iraqi official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Syrian security forces expelled al-Hassan from Syria into Iraq after he and his supporters had been turned back in an earlier attempt to cross the Syrian border into Lebanon and Jordan.
Officials in interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's office, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed al-Hassan's capture but gave no other details. Capt. Ahmed Ismael, an intelligence officer in the Interior Ministry, said al-Hassan was detained early Sunday.
The U.S. military had no immediate comment.
Al-Hassan was No. 36 on the list of 55 most wanted Iraqis released by U.S. authorities after American troops invaded Iraq in March 2003, and he also was named one of the 29 key supporters of insurgents in Iraq. The United States had a $1 million US bounty on his head.
In a statement, Allawi's office said the arrest "shows the determination of the Iraqi government to chase and detain all criminals who carried out massacres and whose hands are stained with the blood of the Iraqi people, then bring them to justice to face the right punishment."
It was not immediately known whether U.S. troops played any role in the arrest of al-Hassan, who was the six of diamonds in the U.S.-issued deck of cards showing wanted Iraqis.
Saddam's two other half brothers, Barzan and Watban, were captured in April 2003 and are expected to stand trial with Saddam at the Iraqi Special Tribunal. Both appeared before the special court in Baghdad with Saddam and a handful of others to hear preliminary accusations against them.
Al-Hassan's arrest came during a period of increased U.S. and Iraqi military activity against insurgents, who continued their campaign of violence against coalition forces and those Iraqis they believe are helping them or sympathize with them.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday and another two were wounded after apparently being ambushed in southeast Baghdad with a bomb and rifle fire, the military said.
The attack raised the weekend death toll for Americans to three. The U.S. command said a marine was killed Saturday during military operations in central Babil province.
At least 1,494 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
In the northern town of Hammam Alil, 380 kilometres north of Baghdad, a bomb exploded inside the police headquarters, killing five people, including some police officers, said Khorshid Sultan, a coroner at the main hospital in Mosul.
The hospital also said four police officers were killed in an ambush while patrolling in Mosul.
In Baghdad, gunmen attacked police heading to work in the western Amiriyah district, killing two, police said. Authorities also found the body of an Iraqi woman, dressed in traditional black, with a sign that said "spy" pinned to her chest.
Police used explosives to blow up a car bomb in central Baghdad's Kahramanah square, shaking neighbouring buildings. Security forces often blow up such bombs on site instead of defusing them.
In Latifiyah, 30 kilometres south of Baghdad, Iraqi troops found four beheaded corpses on a farm. The four people belonged to the Badr Organization, a wing of the main Shiite political group, the Supreme Council For the Islamic Revolution. They were kidnapped earlier Saturday while driving to the holy Shiite city of Najaf, Yassin said.
Saddam and al-Hassan had the same mother but different fathers.
Under Saddam, al-Hassan led the dreaded General Security Directorate, which was responsible for internal security, especially cracking down on political parties opposing Saddam. Al-Hassan was accused of torturing and killing political opponents while leading that body.
He later became a presidential adviser, the last post he held in the former regime.
Playing card showing Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti. Hassan, a half-brother of ousted president Saddam Hussein, accused of masterminding Iraq's deadly insurgency from neighbouring Syria, has been arrested, officials said.(AFP/USDoD/File)
good job ! now they need to cough up al-Douri
If the US continues to put pressure on Syria who knows how many terrorists they'll hand over.
I love his look ..Wild and Crazy Guy from SNL
This is all Bush's fault...
Here you go Grampa Dave. Also may be a tad more info.
This must the be result of Syria fearing something else they didn't believe Allawi would do.
Thanks for posting this a thread by itself.
Not only is it good news about this mass murderer being in custody.
The other good news is that Syria turned him over after the bombing in Lebanon.
"Al-Hassan, a former Saddam adviser, was captured in Hasakah in northeastern Syria near the Iraqi border, two senior Iraqi officials told The Associated Press by telephone on condition of anonymity. Hasakah is about 50 kilometres from Iraq.
"They added that al-Hassan was captured and handed over to Iraqi authorities along with 29 other members of the Baath party, whose Syrian branch has been in power in Damascus since 1963.
"The Iraqi officials did not specify when al-Hassan was captured, only saying he was detained following the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in Beirut in a blast that also killed 16 others.
"Syria has come under intense scrutiny following Hariri's death, with many in Lebanon blaming Damascus and Beirut's pro-Syrian government for the killing. The United States and France also have called on Damascus to withdraw 15,000 Syrian troops from Lebanon."
Will Syria become a helpful hand like Libya?
Washington has long accused Syria of harbouring and aiding former members of the toppled Baathist regime suspected of involvement in the deadly insurgency.
"The capture appeared to be a goodwill gesture by the Syrians to show that they are co-operating," one Iraqi official said.
Good start, now they need to stop all their support for insurgents, turn over couple hundred more people, and leave Lebanon.
Makes you wonder how long they've had him...
Thanks, this is a significant break re Syria as well as the capture and turn over of these mass murderers.
I have pinged the great ones with their ping lists.
This is all smoke and mirrors by Syria......they knew right where to go and 'capture' him I bet. This is only a ploy....because the heat is really turned up.
Ping me if you locate it.
I guess it would be from the waist down...
Bushes Fault!
Arabiya TV Says Threatened Over Syria Broadcast
DUBAI (Reuters) - Syrian intelligence sent death threats to Al Arabiya television after it aired an interview with U.N. chief Kofi Annan in which he urged Syria to withdraw from Lebanon by April, a source at the station said Sunday.
"There were death threats against Arabiya's staff in Beirut by the Syrians," the source told Reuters, referring to Syrian intelligence.
Syrian officials were not immediately available to comment.
See the link for more....
This really is better news than simply that the guy was captured. This clearly indicates that there is major pressure being applied and that there will be more results likely. McGavrin999's post #7 is interesting.
you are so right.....Syria just did this cause the heat is on.....they don't have any positive intentions. I hope they know a healthy Iraq is not gonna look kindly on them..
Clearly the war-mongering Bush Administration isn't using enough diplomacy with Syria...
< /mocking! >
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