Regards, Ivan
Posted on 04/23/2003 5:56:43 PM PDT by MadIvan
AS THE hunt for Saddam Hussein’s fallen lieutenants continued, officials from the United States last night claimed a further four scalps from Iraq’s feared intelligence hierarchy.
Most senior to fall into the hands of coalition forces was Muzahim Sa’b Hassan al-Tikriti, who headed Iraq’s air defences under Saddam. He was number ten on the US list of the top 55 most wanted officials from Saddam’s regime currently being hunted by both US and UK special forces, including SAS troops.
"They’re collapsing like a house of cards," said Lieutenant Colonel Tom Kurasiewicz, a spokesman for the Pentagon.
Another official said US forces now have 11 of the 55 in custody, with three others believed dead.
The former head of military intelligence surrendered to US forces in Baghdad yesterday, while special operations troops swooped on the man charged with spying on the Americans.
Pentagon officials confirmed that General Zuhayr Talib Abd al-Sattar al-Naqib, number 21 on the list, surrendered yesterday.
In charge of the directorate of military intelligence, which monitored the loyalty of Iraq’s regular army, he enforced security at Iraqi military facilities and collected intelligence on military forces opposing Saddam’s regime.
The military intelligence directorate he headed was separate from the feared Mukhabarat, which gathered strategic intelligence and conducted covert operations aimed at maintaining government authority.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times before his surrender, Naqib, 56, said he made no apologies for his involvement in Saddam’s government. He also made it clear that he had not always agreed with the Iraqi leader.
However, he had shared Saddam’s Pan-Arabist ideas and his hope that Iraq and its military could steamroller their way through their neighbours to impose an Arab state.
US-led special operations troops captured an Iraqi intelligence service officer formerly in charge of spying operations on the Americans.
Jim Wilkinson, the director of strategic communications for US Central Command in Doha, Qatar, identified the prisoner as Salim Said Khalaf al-Jumayli. He was not among the 55 most wanted.
Jumayli is suspected of having knowledge of Iraqi intelligence service activities in the US, including names of people spying for Iraq.
Also captured was Muhammad Mahdi al-Salih, the former Iraqi trade minister and number 48 on the most wanted list.
Another of Saddam’s key henchmen was captured on Monday. Muhammad Hazma al-Zubaydi, who co-ordinated the suppression of the 1991 rebellion by Shiite Muslims following the 1991 Gulf war, was seized with his son on derelict land near the town of Mahaweel, in central Iraq.
Zubaydi was infamously caught on film kicking and beating captured Shiite rebels after their failed uprising.
He was number 18 on the list.
Haider Ahmad, the spokesman for the Iraqi National Congress in London, said Zubaydi, a former prime minister and a member of the Revolutionary Command Council, was caught "in co-ordination with allied troops" by Free Iraqi Forces affiliated to the INC.
Jamal Mustafa Sultan al-Tikriti, Saddam’s son-in-law, surrendered on Sunday. He is also a cousin to Saddam, according to reports.
Jamal is said to be rare among the former dictator’s relatives for having military experience and a reputation as a competent commander.
His older brother, Kamal, was a senior figure in the Special Republican Guard.
Saddam’s minister of higher education and scientific research, Abd al-Khaliq Abd al-Gafar, was also placed in coalition custody at the weekend.
The INC said one of Saddam’s bodyguards, Major Khalid Hmood, had surrendered after visiting Syria, although he was not on the wanted list.
Regards, Ivan
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