Posted on 07/26/2003 8:54:11 AM PDT by demlosers
Baghdad: The identity of the informer who led US forces to Saddam Hussein's sons this week remains a mystery, but one man remains the odds-on favourite to pick up the 30-million-dollar reward. Nawaf al-Zaidan, the tribal chief who owned the mansion where Uday and Qusay died in a blistering gunbattle in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, has been named by neighbours and reports as the man now in US protective custody.
US authorities have refused to name the informer whose information led to Uday and Qusay, among the most feared members of the former regime, for fear of reprisals by remnants of the Baathist regime.
The US State Department has said it is anxious to pay out the 30 million dollars for information leading to their capture, but that it has so far not received the appropriate paperwork.
A US commander in Mosul, Colonel Joe Anderson, merely confirmed that the source was being protected by US forces.
A female relative of Zaidan, who asked not to be named, and another neighbour, Ahmed Habel, both said they believed Zaidan, a wealthy businessman from the city, had tipped off the Americans.
"He wanted to get rid of them", said the female relative. Zaidan was arrested without his hands bound and "seemed to be well treated by the soldiers," said Habel, adding that Zaidan's tribe was linked to Saddam's family, explaining why Uday and Qusay had sought refuge with him.
The independent Baghdad newspaper Azzaman reported Saturday that the informer was related to a military officer who had been executed by Saddam's regime in 1993 after a failed coup attempt.
Another of Zaidan's neighbours has also been tipped as the possible informer. One Mosul resident said that Zaidan had told a neighbour, a Kurd by the name of Ahmed Tahar Zenana, that Saddam's sons were at his mansion. Zenana was reported to have disappeared from his house Wednesday, guarded by US soldiers.
Details surrounding the events that led up to Tuesday's assault remained unclear. Some residents claimed that Uday and Qusay had arrived at the house only days before the assault accompanied by Qusay's teenage son Mustafa, and a bodyguard named Abdul Samad.
Others said they had been in Mosul for two months. Some claimed they were planning to escape towards Turkey, others that they were headed for Syria.
A man who claimed to be close to Zaidan and who asked not to be named, said that the two brothers had been preparing to flee to Turkey.
"Uday and Qusay decided to hide in Zaidan's mansion and intended to stay there for a while before sneaking into Turkey," he said.
He claimed that Saddam had in June asked Zaidan for help "if the need arises ... because Uday was not in a good physical or mental state."
"The two brothers came to the house of Nawaf al-Zaidan in an 11-vehicle convoy accompanied by bodyguards and stayed there two days."
He said the guards left two days before the assault and that Uday and Qusay had intended to leave imminently.
Yes, they want to make him out to be the dirty snitch, and the serial murdering, raping, torturing demonspawn out to be Democrat folk heros.
Every time I think the left can go no lower...
I so agree.
And if his identity were uncovered, and, heaven forbid, his life ended prematurely, would that same media then blame it on the Republican war mongers? While they busily scrounge for the next vict ... er ... anonymous informant?
You mean the way the BBC is doing with the Kelly suicide? Nah, never. The media is unbiased and objective. They tell us so all the time....
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