Saddam was held by Kurdish forces, drugged and left for US troops

Yahoo News ^ | Sat Dec 20,11:00 PM ET | AFP

[Nachum]

LONDON, (AFP) - Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) was captured by US troops only after he had been taken prisoner by Kurdish forces, drugged and abandoned ready for American soldiers to recover him, a British Sunday newspaper said.

Saddam came into the hands of the Kurdish Patriotic Front after being betrayed to the group by a member of the al-Jabour tribe, whose daughter had been raped by Saddam's son Uday, leading to a blood feud, reported the Sunday Express, which quoted an unnamed senior British military intelligence officer.

The newspaper said the full story of events leading up to the ousted Iraqi president's capture on December 13 near his hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq (news - web sites), "exposes the version peddled by American spin doctors as incomplete".

A former Iraqi intelligence officer, whom the Express did not name, told the paper that Saddam was held prisoner by a leader of the Kurdish Patriotic Front, which fought alongside US forces during the Iraq war, until he negotiated a deal.

The deal apparently involved the group gaining political advantage in the region.

An unnamed Western intelligence source in the Middle East told the Express: "Saddam was not captured as a result of any American or British intelligence. We knew that someone would eventually take their revenge, it was just a matter of time."

[Nachum]

....and the problem here is?

[steve-b]

I find it difficult to believe that Saddam would have been found in one piece if the Kurds had had him.

[GeronL]

I have to doubt that any kurd would have left him alive.

[squarebarb]

Exactly. They would have dragged him through the streets until dead.

[Hodar]

He was held prisoner, with a pistol and 2 rifles? And the prison was hidden/camoflaged underground??

I think some information is missing.

[Arkinsaw]

And left him with a pistol, AK-47, and $750,000 bucks. Smart Kurds.

[Fifth Business]

They let him go? That seems improbable.

[Momaw Nadon]

IMHO, this story is a steaming heap of Barbara Streisand.

[Consort]

More

[CholeraJoe]

Duh. This BS is Breaking News because...?

[Mark Felton]

" been taken prisoner by Kurdish forces, drugged and abandoned " yeah right. The ABANDONED Saddam Hussein after capturing him.

[VRWCmember]

Saddam was held prisoner by a leader of the Kurdish Patriotic Front, which fought alongside US forces during the Iraq war, until he negotiated a deal. The deal apparently involved the group gaining political advantage in the region.

And Saddam was able to negotiate a deal giving the group political advantage in the region. I didn't realize he would have such political influence after his capture.

[RichInOC]

Nah...they wouldn't have been that kind.

[mrobison]

This did not happen. The Kurds would have (literally) eaten him alive. Look at the source of the article. It's probably some Clinton lackey sitting in a basement somewhere with an old Corona typewriter and a table covered with crack.

[mrobison]

Please remove this from Breaking News. It doesn't deserve the dignity.

[lavrenti]

Best line of the day, dude.

[mitchbert]

Whatever, to all of it.

Yeah, I know, newsworthy eh.

Bottom line, all that matters. Saddam is no longer running Iraq.

Again: Saddam is no longer running Iraq.

Period. All that matters. The end.

[thoughtomator]

Fantastic Arab conspiracy theories that can be disproven by any 5-year old with a newspaper do not qualify as 'Breaking News'

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I have to doubt that any kurd would have left him alive.

They had 16,000,000 reasons to do so, plus an inside track to leadership of the new regime.

Besides, I find it plausible that native Iraqis would know how and where to find Saddam a lot more easily than American GIs, for whom the country is mainly names on a map.

No disrespect for our boys, just that the natives would have a lot easier time finding and snatching him.

[blackbart.223]

"The Kurds would have (literally) eaten him alive."

It's a shame The Kurds didn't get him first. If they had the question of what to do with him would already be answered.