Syria captures Saddam's half brother and hands him over to Iraq

CBC News ^ | 2/27/05 | PATRICK QUINN

[TexKat]

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)

[injin]

good job ! now they need to cough up al-Douri

[Noachian]

If the US continues to put pressure on Syria who knows how many terrorists they'll hand over.

[hineybona]

I love his look ..Wild and Crazy Guy from SNL

[psychopuppy]

This is all Bush's fault...

[TexKat]

Here you go Grampa Dave. Also may be a tad more info.

[McGavin999]

I read about this on one of the Iraqi blogs the other night. They said that Allawi gave Syria a list of Syrian officers who have been paid by Saddam's baathists, the amount paid and who paid them. Allawi said he had the proof and would start to let the Iraqi people know of Syria's involvement by way of televised confessions. Syria called his bluff....only Allawi wasn't bluffing. Allawi immediately started televising the confessions of Syrian intelligence officers that had been captured.

This must the be result of Syria fearing something else they didn't believe Allawi would do.

[Grampa Dave]

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.

[Righty_McRight]

Good start, now they need to stop all their support for insurgents, turn over couple hundred more people, and leave Lebanon.

[Guillermo]

Makes you wonder how long they've had him...

[Grampa Dave]

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.

[Dog]

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.

[Dog]

Tex....can you locate an article with the names of the other 29 'captured' Iraqis..

Ping me if you locate it.

[Lurking2Long]

Which half?

I guess it would be from the waist down...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Bushes Fault!

[MeekOneGOP]

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Meanwhile we have this:

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....

[Cap Huff]

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.

[NorCalRepub]

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..

[Southack]

"Syria......they knew right where to go and 'capture' him I bet. This is only a ploy....because the heat is really turned up."

Clearly the war-mongering Bush Administration isn't using enough diplomacy with Syria...

< /mocking! >