Syrian Kurds captured Saddam's brother

Reuters ^ | 28 February 2005

[chava]

Monday February 28, 02:41 PM

Syrian Kurds captured Saddam's brother

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Syrian Kurds seized Saddam Hussein's half-brother in northeast Syria and handed him to Iraqi Kurds before he was taken into custody by Iraq's security forces, government sources in Baghdad say.

Sabawi Ibrahim, a former spy chief and senior adviser to Saddam, was captured in the Syrian town of Hasakah, about 50 km (30 miles) from the Iraqi border, the sources said on Monday.

Iraq's government announced his capture on Sunday but did not say when, where or how he was caught.

It is unlikely that Syrian Kurds, who are closely watched by the Syrian authorities, would dare get involved in any such operation without at least a green light from Damascus.

"He (Ibrahim) was in Hasakah. The Kurds there captured him and handed him to Iraq's Kurds in the north," a senior source in an Iraqi ministry told Reuters.

"Then Iraqi security forces, working with multinational forces, went to the Kurdish area and took him into custody."

Kurdish officials were not immediately available to comment. Iraq's Kurds enjoy extensive autonomy in Iraq and have their own security forces. They have links to Kurdish populations living in neighbouring Syria, Turkey and Iran.

Ibrahim, who was born to the same mother as Saddam, was number 36 on the U.S. military's list of 55 most-wanted people in Iraq. A $1 million (520,000 pound) bounty was offered for his arrest.

A former head of Iraq's feared Mukhabarat domestic security service, he was repeatedly accused by Iraqi officials in recent months of financing and directing Iraq's insurgency from Syria. Damascus denied the accusations.

SYRIAN HAND

On Sunday, Iraqi government sources said Syrian authorities, under pressure from the United States, were involved in handing over Ibrahim, but would not specify the role they had played.

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

"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 official said.

Syrian authorities in Damascus had no comment on Monday on the affair. The U.S. military also would not comment.

More information on Ibrahim's capture had been expected at a news conference in Baghdad on Monday, but Iraq's minister of state for national security, Kassim Daoud, proved circumspect.

"He was arrested under special circumstances," Daoud told reporters. "We decline to give any details at this time ... for security reasons and to finish our job," he said, indicating that accomplices of Ibrahim's were being sought.

The Iraqi government has repeatedly accused Syria of allowing insurgents to cross its borders to carry out attacks in Iraq, a charge that Damascus has denied.

Syria has come under fire from the United States after the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri in Beirut two weeks ago.

The Lebanese opposition has blamed Damascus, which has 14,000 troops based in Lebanon, for his death. Syria condemned the assassination and denied any involvement.

[NonValueAdded]

And the Kurds will show them the whey!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Well, now very interesting.

[Run Silent Run Deep]

I got a feeling that we will be finding all kinds of things in Syria before too long.

I think Bush made a phone call and told Syria to shape up or else.

[Daus]

FoxNews was reporting that it was our Special Forces who captured this guy, not the Syrians.

Maybe they got some help from the Kurds.

[Dog Gone]

Some Kurd in Syria just won a million bucks.

[Cicero]

We knew that Syria handed him over, but this Kurdish angle is new.

"It is unlikely that Syrian Kurds, who are closely watched by the Syrian authorities, would dare get involved in any such operation without at least a green light from Damascus."

Maybe so. Or maybe Syria's Kurds are getting a little bolder as they watch recent developments in Iraq and Lebanon. Maybe the initiative came from the Syrian Kurds and the Syrian government felt forced to go along with it rather than look weak.

[Supernatural]

Syria is running scared, trying to bide their time until the Muslims get nuclear weapons.

[WOSG]

interesting story - but how do we know if it is true?

[68skylark]

FoxNews was reporting that it was our Special Forces who captured this guy, not the Syrians.

I'm certain we have SF soldiers working with Iraqi Kurdish security forces, and they probably played some part in this matter. I strongly doubt we have SF troops inside Syria to work with any Syrian Kurdish forces.

[McGavin999]

I think that at this point, nobody wants anyone to know the truth about how this capture took place. They are muddying the waters on purpose.

[ozarkgirl]

"I think that at this point, nobody wants anyone to know the truth about how this capture took place. They are muddying the waters on purpose"

I don't have a problem with that, we don't have to know everything.

[4mer Liberal]

I strongly doubt we have SF troops inside Syria to work with any Syrian Kurdish forces.

I wouldn't be so sure of that...If not US SO guys then maybe some of the Iraqis we have trained. At any rate, it brings to mind something I saw last night while watching Patton instead of the Oscars. I remember the part where the general's aid said something to the effect that ,"sometimes the men don't know when you are acting and when you are not", to which Patton replied,"It isn't important for them to know..it's only important for me to know."

When you have an enemy psyched, as I believe we are starting to do to Syria, just the thought that maybe we might just have SO guys in their country could bring a serious change of heart to their leadership. Despite all of their bluster, make no mistake about it, they are terrified of us.

[TexKat]

Some stories about SAB'AWI IBRAHIM.

Sab'awi Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti

Saddam's half brother. Former Director of Intelligence and the General Security Directorate.

"[The prisoner] was taken to the basketball post by two guards who had to practically carry him because he was unable to walk...They tied him to the post. SAB'AWI IBRAHIM said something to [the prisoner] and [the prisoner] started shouting, pleading for his life. I heard [the prisoner] saying something like: "I am the only one to look after my family - have mercy on me for the sake of my children". SAB'AWI IBRAHIM...shot him twice in the chest with an automatic pistol from a range of about 2 metres...Two of the bodyguards then shot him again with their machine guns at close range, cutting him to pieces...I saw that the body stayed in the yard until 10pm. Then two guards put the body in a rubbish bin mounted on a trolley."

"SAB'AWI IBRAHIM said to him angrily that he was a Kuwaiti spy. The prisoner denied this. SAB'AWI IBRAHIM punched him twice in the face. He opened a filing cabinet and brought out a butcher's axe. He struck the man with it on the right shoulder. The man fell to the floor bleeding. The prison guards picked him up. SAB'AWI IBRAHIM hit the man twice on the forehead with the blade of the axe and the man died immediately. SAB'AWI IBRAHIM had been sidelined by SADDAM HUSSEIN for incompetence in looking for Kuwaiti spies...he was trying to regain favour by exposing, or even pretending, that there was a Kuwaiti spy network in place."

"He hit me and asked me "Do you know who I am?" in a whisper. I replied that I knew that he was SAB'AWI IBRAHIM. He said then that if I knew him, I knew what he was capable of. He threatened to remove the name [X] from existence by which I understood he was threatening to kill all my family...I was hung from the ceiling by my feet...There were people on each side beating me. I fainted. Water was splashed on my face to revive me and then I was beaten again. I finally lost consciousness and when I woke I was attached to a device that looked like it was cardiograph machine. I had lost all feeling in my arms and legs. The doctors suggested I may have suffered from some form of brain haemorrhage."

[IM2MAD]

Pun intended? Good one, if so.

[ArmyBratproud]

So they find this goon in Syria.

WELL, could it be possible that he is not the only Saddam tool that got across the border...

Could WMD's have been moved to Syria......

I remember the footage of convoys of trucks going to the border from sat. cameras.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Awful!

[Southack]

" I think Bush made a phone call and told Syria to shape up or else."

Ummm....that's the diplomatic message that gets sent when you recall your ambassador, as President Bush did.

[rightwingextremist1776]

Ibrahim, who was born to the same mother as Saddam,

sooooo...Saddam's mama was a whore after all...must explain his high level of respect for females.

[river rat]

Poor Impeached president clinton...
The bastard is looking so gray and glum -- because he is constantly being reminded by President Bush, how a REAL President leads....

clinton the sperminator -- would still be holding meetings with the dead Arafat ----- working on the PEACE PROCESS..

The ONLY effective "peace process" is to first WIN THE WAR and demand unconditional surrender...


Semper Fi