Dat be 'him...
Reports on Ibrahim Capture Baseless-Iraq Minister
Sun Sep 5, 2004 04:51 PM ET
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BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iraq's Defense Minister Hazim al-Shalaan said on Sunday reports on the capture of Izzat Ibrahim al Douri, the most wanted Saddam Hussein aide, were baseless.
"We don't have any information regarding this issue. What has been said of a statement by the Defense Ministry is baseless," he told Lebanon's LBC television channel.
The Defense Ministry in Baghdad had said Ibrahim, who was sixth on a U.S. list of the 55 most wanted members of Saddam's administration and had a $10 million price on his head, was arrested in Tikrit, Saddam's former powerbase north of Baghdad.
"The joint forces carried out combing operations and struck at terrorist positions," Shalaan said.
"They captured many terrorists and there are rumors that Izzat al Douri or someone who looks like him is among them, but we don't have any specific information regarding Izzat al Douri."
Dat be 'him...
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi authorities said Sunday that they captured Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri (search), the most wanted fugitive from Saddam Hussein's ousted dictatorship, but the Iraqi defense minister later said word of al-Douri's capture was "baseless."
The U.S. military said it could not confirm al-Douri's arrest and said he was not in American custody.
Past reports of al-Douri's arrest have proven false. But several top Iraqi officials said his capture was all but confirmed in a raid on a clinic near Adwar, al-Douri's hometown, in the region of Tikrit (search), where Saddam and many of his top officials were from. Saddam was captured Dec. 13 hiding in a safe-house near Adwar.