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FOX NEWS

Saddam's Sons Likely Killed in Firefight, U.S. Officials Say

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,92591,00.html

MOSUL, Iraq — Saddam Hussein's sons Udai and Qusai (search) were likely killed Tuesday when U.S. soldiers stormed a house in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, U.S. military sources told Fox News.

Officials earlier confirmed that four key allies of the former Iraqi dictator had been hiding inside the house, a large villa that belonged to one of Saddam's cousins.

The house was burned to the ground after a loud, four-hour gunbattle.

Residents of the city, 280 miles north of Baghdad, said the American soldiers were searching for Saddam's sons, Qusai and Udai (search), who have been reported in the area.

"Individuals of very high interest to the coalition forces were hiding out in the building," Lt. Col. William Bishop of the 101st Airborne Division (search) told Reuters.

"This morning we went to the building and surrounded it."

Bishop said one Iraqi had been killed and five wounded in the battle.

Reuters reported that several "high-interest personalities" had been detained. The military, reporting communications problems, said it had no information on the incident.

According to the Reuters report, U.S. soldiers were fired at by people inside the house as they approached, and the Americans called in helicopters and an unmanned vehicle for assistance before storming the house.

The United States has offered a $25 million reward for information leading to Saddam's capture, and $15 million for his sons.

Fox News military analyst Col. Bill Cowan said he hoped Saddam's sons had been captured and not killed.

"I think in this case, it'd be great to have them alive," he said.

"I think for the [Iraqi] population to see these two guys shackled, incarcerated and really given some harsh treatment … will have a most profound and long-term psychological advantage."

Cowan added that Saddam's sons might provide good intelligence on their father's whereabouts.

Fox News' Greg Palkot and Bret Baier contributed to this report

CNN still hedging with a question mark.

Saddam's sons killed?

Pentagon: Firefight may have involved Hussein sons
Rotation of U.S. forces announcement expected

WASHINGTON (CNN) --U.S. troops are investigating whether Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay were among those killed or captured during a firefight with American troops in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Pentagon officials told CNN.

A U.S. official told CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr that no people were captured at the house raided in Mosul, and that four people were killed. Further details were expected shortly.

Meanwhile, a U.S. soldier was killed Tuesday and another was wounded in a convoy ambush north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

The soldiers, assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, were traveling on a road between Balad and Ramadi when a rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire hit their vehicle around 9 a.m. (1 a.m. EDT), according to a statement from the military.

Later, south of the capital, a Red Cross worker was killed in an Iraqi ambush, Red Cross officials said.

A day earlier, attackers killed another U.S. soldier and wounded four others in northeast Baghdad. An Iraqi interpreter also was killed as an explosive device was placed on a crash barrier and set off by remote when two 1st Armored Division vehicles drove by, U.S. military officials said.

Commenting on the string of attacks from his ranch in Texas on Monday, President Bush said, "This extension of hostilities is really a part of the war to liberate Iraq.

"There are people in Iraq who hate the thought of freedom; there are Saddam [Hussein] apologists who want to try and stay in power through terrorist activities. ... We're patient, we're strong, we're resolute, and we will see this matter through."

Tuesday's death brought the number of Americans killed in Iraq to 94 since Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1. Of those, 28 deaths have occurred in July. Thirty-seven deaths were in hostile action.

In all, 232 members of the U.S. military have been killed in the Iraq war, 152 of them in hostile action. (Interactive: U.S. deaths as of July 21)

Some 148,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq, plus an estimated 13,000 allied forces, mostly British. The United States has been seeking help from other countries. India was asked to contribute 17,000 troops but said last week it would not contribute peacekeepers unless they had U.N. backing.

With U.S. troops facing constant dangers, some lawmakers -- particularly Democrats -- have called for the United States to turn to the United Nations and bring more countries into Iraq.

But Bush said U.N. Security Council Resolution 1483, which approved the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq and encouraged the participation of other nations, is adequate as it is.

Rotation of forces
The U.S. Army is expected to announce Wednesday a new plan to rotate troops in and out of Iraq over the next several months.

The plan comes shortly after thousands of troops -- who were initially scheduled to return home from Iraq within two months -- were told they would have to remain in the region for an unknown length of time.

The announcement affected 9,000 men in the Army's battle-weary 3rd Infantry Division, which has been in Iraq since the start of the war in March.

On Tuesday, military sources told CNN the plan is still subject to change depending on the security situation in Iraq and the number of forces that might be contributed by other nations. They also cautioned that U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could order last minute changes to the Army plan.

• The plan lays out troop rotations through early 2004. It is expected to maintain a force level of about 145,000 U.S. troops in Iraq to maintain current military capabilities.

• Plans call for some of the heavy, armored U.S. forces currently deployed in Iraq to be replaced by lighter and more mobile units, according to military sources.

• Scheduled first to come home are the two remaining brigades of the 3rd Infantry Division, who have been told they will return to the United States by September, sources said.

• It is expected they will be replaced by a brigade from the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, Army reserve units and the so-called Stryker Brigade from Fort Lewis, Washington.

The Stryker Brigade consists of high-tech, light-armored wheeled vehicles. It is currently finishing an evaluation phase and has never been deployed.

Under the Army plan, the next unit most likely to return from Iraq to the United States is the 101st Airborne Division. Sources tell CNN the most likely replacements for that unit would be a mix of brigades from the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, and Germany -- and possibly -- elements of the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas.

Other developments
• Former Iraqi prisoner of war -- U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch -- is set to return to her home in the rugged green hills of West Virginia on Tuesday afternoon, following a dramatic rescue and months of painful recuperation from war wounds. Thousands of well-wishers are expected to cheer the 20-year-old as she and her family are honored with a parade. (Full story, Interactive: Attack that led to Lynch's capture)

• A delegation from the new Iraqi Governing Council is scheduled to visit the U.N. Council on Tuesday in New York as discussions begin on what role the United Nations might play in post-war Iraq.

• On Monday, U.S. Army Gen. John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command, announced two measures to crack down on Iraqi insurgents: an alteration in the makeup of U.S. forces and creation of a 7,000-strong Iraqi Defense Corps.

• Thousands of Shiite Muslims protested Monday in Baghdad, railing against the new Governing Council and sending the same message as before: They want the U.S.-led coalition out of Iraq.

CNN Correspondents Barbara Starr, Rym Brahimi and Nic Robertson contributed to this report.

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