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

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

[TheDon]

Nice!

[TexKat]

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.

Thanks for the info McGavin999.

In a video image taken from Al-Iraqiya television, alleged insurgent Mohammed Samir gives his televised confession, in Iraq Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005. The U.S.-funded Iraqi state television channel aired what it said were the confessions Wednesday of an alleged Syrian intelligence officer, not pictured, and Sudanese and Egyptian nationals who had also trained in Syria to carry out attacks in Iraq. (AP Photo/Al-Iraqiya TV )

In a composite image of video images taken from Al-Iraqiya television Sudanese, Egyptian, and Iraqi nationals who claimed to have also trained in Syria to carry out attacks in Iraq, give their televised confessions, in Iraq Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005. The U.S.-funded Iraqi state television channel aired what it said were the confessions Wednesday of an alleged Syrian intelligence officer, not pictured, and Sudanese and Egyptian nationals who had also trained in Syria to carry out attacks in Iraq. Top left to bottom-right, in rows: Adam Omar, Mohammed Hamoud Moussa, Osman Moussa Abdul Qadr, Mohammed Samir, Zaki Eldin Abdul Fattah Sulieman, Mustafa al-Sayyed Madbouli, Kanaan Mohammed Ali, Ali Kadhim Rashid, Amar Ali. (AP Photo/Al-Iraqiya TV )

Iraqi TV Airs Tape of Purported Confession

Thursday February 24, 2005 9:31 PM

By MAGGIE MICHAEL

Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The Syrian intelligence officer who appeared on the U.S.-funded Iraqi state television station had a stark message about the insurgency - he'd helped train people to build car bombs and behead people.

``My name is Anas Ahmed al-Essa. I live in Halab. I am from Syria,'' he said by way of introduction - naming what he said was his home in Syria. Halab is another name for Aleppo, a city north of Damascus.

``What's your job?'' he was asked by someone off-camera. ``I am a lieutenant in intelligence.''

Then a second question. ``Which intelligence?'' The reply: ``Syrian intelligence.''

And so began a detailed 15-minute confession broadcast by al-Iraqiya TV on Wednesday, in which the man, identified as 30-year-old Lt. Anas Ahmed al-Essa, said his group was recruited to ``cause chaos in Iraq ... to bar America from reaching Syria.''

``We received all the instructions from Syrian intelligence,'' said the man, who appeared in the propaganda video along with 10 Iraqis who said they had also been recruited by Syrian intelligence officers.

Syria denied the claims that the detained insurgents had received training in the country or that it was sending armed men to Iraq.

``These are unfounded and baseless claims. Syria is keen on Iraq's security and stability. It does not interfere in Iraq's internal affairs,'' Syria's official news agency, SANA, quoted high ranking security sources as saying.

Al-Iraqiya later aired another round of interviews with men it said were Sudanese and Egyptians who also trained in Syria to carry out attacks in Iraq.

The claims could not be independently authenticated.

An Iraqi special forces commander, Brig. Gen. Abu Al-Walid, said his forces arrested the men in Mosul on Jan. 29, one day before the national elections. He said they included eight Syrians, one Lebanese, 12 Egyptians and 10 Sudanese.

He said the men were found with explosives, weapons and maps for balloting centers in Mosul.

On Thursday, Iraqi police said they arrested four other suspected terrorists during raids in Baghdad - two Syrians and two Iraqis believed to have carried out other attacks.

The videos were broadcast as the Bush administration steps up pressure on Syria to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs by allowing insurgents to cross into the country to fight coalition troops and by harboring former Iraqi regime members. Syria has denied the charges.

Top officials in Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government have called on Syria to hand over former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party who fled there after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, which Syria vehemently opposed.

Al-Iraqiya TV can be seen nationwide and is believed to be widely watched by Iraqis - mainly those who cannot afford satellite dishes offering the Persian Gulf-based Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya stations. But the station, which went on the air in May 2003 with help from the Pentagon, is viewed by many Iraqis as an American propaganda tool.

Wednesday was the first time the channel showed someone it claimed was a Syrian intelligence officer.

All those interviewed in the first video apparently were detained in the northern city of Mosul. It was not known where the interviews were made, and no date was provided.

A man identified as one of al-Essa's aides, Shehab al-Sabaawi, said the group used animals for training in beheadings. Al-Essa said it required ``at least 10 beheadings'' for a member to be promoted to a group leader.

``I had to send a report to Syria about how the operations are going,'' he said.

Weapons, explosives and equipment were all provided by Syrian intelligence, the man claimed, adding that group members received $1,500 a month.

Al-Essa said money was his motive for accepting an offer by a Syrian intelligence colonel he identified as Fady Abdullah to carry out attacks inside Iraq.

``I was trained on explosives, killing, spying, kidnapping ... and after one year I went to Iraq with Fady Abdullah,'' al-Essa said.

He claimed he infiltrated Iraq in 2001, about two years before the U.S. invasion, because Syrian intelligence was convinced that American military action loomed.

An unidentified Iraqi officer introduced the video, saying all insurgent groups in Iraq were covers for Syrian intelligence. He named a number of well-known groups, including one which has killed and beheaded foreigners.

Al-Essa claimed to be leader of the al-Fateh Army, a group that had not been heard of previously.

Al-Sabaawi described himself as a former lieutenant colonel in Saddam's army. He said he was recruited at an Iraqi mosque in 2001 by an Iraqi man named Abu Bakr, whom he described as the al-Fateh Army's leader.

``He offered to take us on a training trip to Islamabad,'' the Pakistani capital, al-Sabaawi said. ``He told us that we could develop our skills, give us information about how to make car bombs and carry out kidnappings.''

Before returning to Iraq, al-Sabaawi said he spent 11 months in Pakistan. He did not say who trained him there.

After Saddam's fall in 2003, al-Sabaawi said he spent a month in Syria, where he claimed to have received training from Syrian intelligence on how to behead hostages.

``Syrian intelligence officers were supervising our training. We were ready to fight the Americans because any Iraqi and any Muslim can't live under occupation,'' he said.

Afterward, he crossed the border and carried out attacks against U.S. military targets.

He said the group started by making car bombs targeting American troops and Iraqi National Guardsmen before beginning a campaign of kidnapping and beheading Iraqis.

The Sudanese and Egyptian nationals in the video broadcast later in the day did not belong to al-Fateh, the station said.

[TexKat]

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

See post #22 for some of the captured.

[Dog]

Did they grow them on the ugly tree.....sheesh.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See article linked at post #17.

Syria is responding to pressure in lots of ways....

[Seaplaner]

...Syrian authorities...captured Saddam Hussein's half brother and 29 other officials of the...Baath party in Syria...

A hopeful sign. However, if the Syrians really, really want to make a gesture of goodwill, how about some info on Saddam's WMDs?

The arrests dealt a blow to an insurgency that some Iraqi officials claim Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan was helping organize and fund from Syria. CBS gets is wrong, like most of the MSM.

It is not actually an INSURGENCY of it is organized and funded and uses aliens from another country. It's that simple. And CBS knows it.

.

[PISANO]

Give him 3 hots and a cot. Treat him nice, with dignity and respect. Love him as you should love all of your enemies and whatever you do......do NOT allow the infamous panty over the head or dog collar wearing TORTURE techniques to be employed on this INNOCENT until proven guilty FREEDOM fighting political prisoner.

< /sarcasm >

[Phsstpok]

Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan is supposed to have been the one to take the WMD out of Iraq and into Syria before American troops landed. If the Syrian's turned him over they could be sending two very different messages.

1) please don't attack us - see we'll be nice and turn him over

2) we turned him over because we don't need him anymore, we have the WMD and will use them if you attack us

[bonfire]

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


Yeah, the "captured" in the headline is probably stretching the truth a bit.

[SeaBiscuit]

Yep, this deserved a thread of it's own. And as I stated on the original story, I believe this is significant and shows W's tough stance is the way to go, also may reflect that Syria senses SOS Rice is on the same page as W which IMO, will be more effective than Powell. Syria may very well be harboring something else, Saddam's 'missing' WMD, though I bet they are scared and it's evidence long since been dismantled/destroyed.

[SeaBiscuit]

Thanks for the redirect, just missed your other post by a second.

BTTT

[Happy2BMe]

You know that al-Hassan would not have survived if he had not done the bidding (butchering) of Saddam.

Wonder what the people in Baghdad have in their little bag of treats for him?

[TexKat]

In a video image taken from Al-Iraqiya television, alleged insurgent Mohammed Hamoud Moussa gives his televised confession, in Iraq Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005. The U.S.-funded Iraqi state television channel aired what it said were the confessions Wednesday of an alleged Syrian intelligence officer, not pictured, and Sudanese and Egyptian nationals who had also trained in Syria to carry out attacks in Iraq. (AP Photo/Al-Iraqiya TV )

In a video image taken from Al-Iraqiya television alleged insurgent Adam Omar, a Sudanese citizen from al-Fashir, Sudan, who lived in Iraq for the past 15 years, states that he led a group of insurgents called Liberation Army, went to Syria and spent time in a training camp located on the Syrian Iraqi border, as part of his televised confession, in Iraq Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005. The U.S.-funded Iraqi state television channel aired what it said were the confessions Wednesday of an alleged Syrian intelligence officer, not pictured, and Sudanese and Egyptian nationals who had also trained in Syria to carry out attacks in Iraq. (AP Photo/Al-Iraqiya)

Syria has helped hand over Saddam's half-brother-source

02/27/2005 - 21:47

"The Syrian authorities, because of the tremendous pressure on them, did something about Ibrahim," a senior government official has said on condition of anonymity.

Syrian authorities are involved in handing over Saddam Hussein's half-brother Sabawi Ibrahim to Iraq, government sources in Baghdad. "The Syrian authorities, because of the tremendous pressure on them, did something about Ibrahim," a senior government official has said on condition of anonymity. Another source in the government has confirmed that the Syrians were involved. "Having so many problems on their plate at the moment, the Syrians were willing partners in this, but the Americans and we were also involved," the senior government official has said. "I think you'll find that there was a strong U.S. presence in this, but everyone -the Syrians, the Americans and us, the Iraqis- were keen to see this happen." He hasn't given any details about Syria's role or how Ibrahim has been handed over, saying that more information would be provided at an Iraqi government news conference on Monday.

Syrian authorities in Damascus have no comment about their possible involvement. The Iraqi government has accused Syria of allowing insurgents to cross over its borders to carry out attacks in Iraq, a charge that Damascus has denied. Syria has also come under fire from the United States after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in Beirut nearly two weeks ago. The Lebanese opposition blamed Damascus for his death.

Earlier, Iraq's government announced that Ibrahim, a former intelligence chief and top adviser to Saddam, had been captured, but did not say when, where or who by. U.S. military officials would not comment. Late last year, Iraqi government officials said Ibrahim was involved in directing the insurgency in Iraq from Syria. Ibrahim was number 36 on the U.S. military's list of the 55 most-wanted people in Iraq. He and Saddam were born to the same mother. Ibrahim's two brothers, Watban and Barzan, were detained by U.S. authorities in April 2003 and are due to face trial.

[TexKat]

Sure!!

[SeaBiscuit]

Excellent follow up, lot to chew on here..

[Gucho]

``Syrian intelligence officers were supervising our training. We were ready to fight the Americans because any Iraqi and any Muslim can't live under occupation,'' he said."


Correction Syrian officer---NORMAL Iraqi's & Muslim's cannot live under WILD ANIMAL (no brain) TYRANTS!!!

[Dog]

I thought I had heard of the Liberation Army....and sure enough there is a terror group in Iraq called the Liberation Army.

• The Iraqi Resistance Islamic Front - JAMI . It came to notice for the first time on May 30, 2004. It claims to be fighting against the American occupiers and Jewish conspiracies in Iraq. Mainly active in the governorates of Ninwi and Diyali. According to statements issued by the front, JAMI's military wings, called the Salah-al-Din and Sayf-Allah al-Maslul Brigades, have carried out dozens of operations against the US occupation forces. Among the operations for which it has claimed credit are the shelling of the occupation command headquarters and the semi-daily shelling of Mosul airport. According to the Iraqi journalists, its targets are members of the US intelligence and it has killed many of them in the al-Faysaliyah area in Mosul, and also in the governorate of Diyali, where the front's al-Rantisi Brigade sniped a US soldier and used mortars to shell al-Faris airport. • Other small factions. Their activities are sporadic. Examples: (1) The Hamzah Faction. A Sunni group that appeared for the first time on October 10, 2003, in Fallujah and called for the release of a local sheikh known as Sheikh Jamal Nidal, who was arrested by the US forces. (2) The Iraqi Liberation Army. It came to notice on July 15, 2003. It warned foreign countries against sending troops to Iraq and threatened to attack them. (3) The Awakening and Holy War Group. It has been active in Fallujah. It filmed an operation on videotape and sent the tape to Iranian television on July 7, 2003. On the tape, it described Saddam Hussein and the US as two sides of the same coin. (4)The White Banners. It, too, was critical of Saddam, as well as the US. It claimed to be operating in association with two other groups calling themselves the Muslim Youths and Muhammad's Army. Surprisingly, it criticized the bombing of the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad for reasons which were not clear. (5)Al-Haqq Army. It is also critical of the US, as well as of Saddam

[MeekOneGOP]

Wonder what the people in Baghdad have in their little bag of treats for him?

The same as is waitin' fer Saddam, I hope .....

Registered Pic: Saddam's Day in Court

---

[mewzilla]

Heh heh heh.

Note to Syria, if you really did cough him up (and we're not just putting that out to get you into trouble with your looney friends), I have one thing to say to you: Yer gonna need a bigger bribe!

[SeaBiscuit]

Now why does that first graphic and caption dialogue remind me of Bubba..