Posted on 12/02/2003 2:19:00 PM PST by Dog
Aide to Saddam's number two detained December 3, 2003 - 8:42AM
US troops detained the private secretary of Saddam Hussein's fugitive number two, Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, during a massive sweep in the Iraqi town of Hawijah today, police chief Awad al-Obeidi told AFP.
"Saad Mohammed al-Duri was arrested in a house in the Hawijah area, where he was hiding," Obeidi said in Iraq's northern oil capital by telephone.
Kirkuk's police chief, General Turhan Yusef, said $US40,000 ($55,134) was found in the man's possession, which was "suspected of being used to finance attacks on the US-led coalition".
The police general said more than 100 people were arrested across north-central Iraq in what he described as a "one-off operation aimed at finding Izzat Ibrahim based on specific intelligence".
Six Iraqis were wounded as several villages put up resistance to the massive cordon and search sweep.
Yusef said the blockade around Hawijah, a town of some 80,000 people, was finally lifted at 9:45pm (0545 AEDT), more than 16 hours after it was imposed.
An official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the dominant Kurdish faction in Kirkuk, said a former general in the disbanded Iraqi army was also arrested in the raids.
He also said Hamid Saad, a senior official of Saddam's former ruling Baath party in charge of youth and student affairs, was captured.
The official, Jalal Jawrar, said an arms cache and attack plans were found in the general's home.
Other detainees included former member of the ultra-loyalist Saddam Fedayeen militia and middle-ranking army officers.
The operation by 1200 troops from the 173rd Airborne Division was concentrated on Hawijah, 45km to the west of Kirkuk, and the village of Rashad, 60km to the south.
The operation's commander, Colonel William Mayville, told AFP 27 people were arrested and seven rocket-propelled grenades, 56 Kalashnikovs and several improvised explosive devices of the sort favoured by anti-US insurgents seized.
Those arrested in the raid, suspects in against US troops in the area, were assembled on a roadside and had their heads covered in yellow bags.
Hawijah resident Marwan Mohammed Hawijah said that at 5am (1300 AEDT), as he got up to go to prayers, he saw a convoy of 200 transports enter the town.
"They had lists of suspects with photographs attached and they were accompanied by Iraqis," he said.
There was no immediate word on the results of the other operations.
Earlier, a member of the US-installed Iraqi Governing Council, Muaffak al-Rubai, told Al-Jazeera satellite television a "major figure" from Saddam's former regime had been "killed or captured" in the Kirkuk region.
"Among the people arrested or captured, is a big fish ... a major figure whose identity is being verified," said Rubai, when asked about Duri.
A Kirkuk police official said part of the search focused on Duri's eldest son, Ahmed, based on new intelligence he was in the area.
US commanders had reports he was transmitting orders from his father to two, 250-man insurgent brigades under his command.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said several members of the brigades had been captured in the overnight raids.
Some were members of Saddam's intelligence service and others from his now disbanded army, many of whom have voiced anger with the US-led coalition over the slow progress in integrating them into a new defence force.
The police official also said that US soldiers overnight raided the home of the head of the Al-Sawalha tribe in the village of the same name, 75 kilometres (45 miles) south of Kirkuk.
He said US reports suggested that Duri had stayed with Sheikh Nuzhan Abed Mutlak at least four times since the fall of Saddam's regime in April.
The new intelligence resulted from the capture in a Mosul coffee-shop on Sunday of two former generals of Saddam's elite Republican Guard, the official said, naming one of them as General Dia al-Duri. Police in Mosul, the biggest town in northern Iraq, said late Monday the two generals were suspected of links to the Saddam aide.
The Kirkuk police official said the arrest three weeks ago of a local tribal chief, Ali Hussein Saleh, sheikh of the Jawada tribe, had led to the arrest of one of Duri's wives and a daughter on November 26.
The detention of the two women, along with the son of Duri's doctor, in a raid on a house in Samarra, north of Baghdad, came just a week after US commanders posted a $US10 million ($14 million) bounty on the fugitive former number two.
Number six on the US wartime list of most wanted Iraqi officials, Duri is the highest-ranking official of the former regime still at large, apart from the ousted president himself.
The northern region between Samarra and Kirkuk is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim and its population fared relatively well under Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime.
AFP
Usage: To Conquer, Vanquish, Subdue, Subjugate, Overcome. These words agree in the general idea expressed by overcome, -- that of bringing under one's power by the exertion of force. Conquer is wider and more general than vanquish, denoting usually a succession of conflicts. Vanquish is more individual, and refers usually to a single conflict. Thus, Alexander conquered Asia in a succession of battles, and vanquished Darius in one decisive engagement. Subdue implies a more gradual and continual pressure, but a surer and more final subjection. We speak of a nation as subdued when its spirit is at last broken, so that no further resistance is offered. Subjugate is to bring completely under the yoke of bondage. The ancient Gauls were never finally subdued by the Romans until they were completely subjugated. These words, when used figuratively, have correspondent meanings. We conquer our prejudices or aversions by a succesion of conflicts; but we sometimes vanquish our reluctance to duty by one decided effort: we endeavor to subdue our evil propensities by watchful and persevering exertions. Subjugate is more commonly taken in its primary meaning, and when used figuratively has generally a bad sense; as, his reason was completely subjugated to the sway of his passions.
If that's true, Rep. LaHood should drink a nice, big cup of STFU...although it might be that this is disinformat being spread by the Administration.
At risk of coming across too optimistic, i think the attacks on our troops could drop alot soon. If these people were financing,instigating and participating in those recent attacks as it appears.
Excellent Article.
US troops detained the private secretary of Saddam Hussein's fugitive number two, Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri, during a massive sweep in the Iraqi town of Hawijah today, police chief Awad al-Obeidi told AFP.
"Saad Mohammed al-Duri was arrested in a house in the Hawijah area, where he was hiding," Obeidi said in Iraq's northern oil capital by telephone.
Kirkuk's police chief, General Turhan Yusef, said $US40,000 ($55,134) was found in the man's possession, which was "suspected of being used to finance attacks on the US-led coalition".
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Stay tuned...
One thing's sure, the bad guys are losing again today. (^:
I don't know the answer to that. Due to the names involved, this one looks a little more credible.
That was exactly the mental image I had.
Ive come to accept the potential that Saddam may never be found, dead or alive.
If however we capture or kill most of his followers and supporters... Weve already taken down his army, statues, taken his face off his money, and made friends with the people he abused then its basically over for him and the tiny remnant of his murdering crew. And the Iraqis appear themselves seem to be cooperating more.
Maybe they will nab Saddam. They sound really close.
If so, Nothing would compare to the Beauty of Tom Dachles Saddness when he heard the news.
"Yes I do," replied LaHood.
WOW indeed..........See ya'all tomorrow, I gotta got play some SOCOM II.
As you highlighted many bad guys were picked up today - not just an aide. Thanks for the post!
;-)
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