Posted on 07/29/2003 12:20:57 AM PDT by kattracks
BAGHDAD, July 29 (Reuters) - U.S. forces hunting Saddam Hussein in Iraq have captured three key figures loyal to the deposed dictator, including a bodyguard, in raids near his home town of Tikrit, the U.S. military said on Tuesday."Members of the 4th Infantry Division detained four individuals in Tikrit. Three of those individuals are believed to be former regime loyalists," a U.S. spokesman said.
"They are being questioned as we speak."
Earlier, the military confirmed that a bodyguard was among those detained in the raids, the latest of several swoops in Tikrit and Baghdad by U.S. forces searching for Saddam.
Television pictures filmed through a night vision lens showed a man being escorted from a building by American soldiers, blood seeping through a blindfold.
U.S. officers sound ever more confident of finding Saddam, as the $25 million reward on his head entices more informants to come forward. Washington has made much of its plan to pay out $30 million to the person who tipped them off about his sons, Uday and Qusay, killed last week in a raid in Mosul.
Saddam was ousted by U.S.-led forces on April 9.
Washington hopes that finding Saddam would help end a guerrilla campaign that has killed 50 U.S. troops since President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1.
"We're close to catching Saddam. A lot of people are stepping forward with information. He's running out of places to hide," army spokeswoman Sergeant Amy Abbot said on Monday.
In Mansur, a smart district in western Baghdad, troops from the Task Force 20 special unit hunting Saddam and his inner circle staged a bloody raid on a villa on Sunday evening, but found no trace of the former Iraqi leader.
During the raid they opened fire on two cars driving nearby, killing at least five Iraqis including a boy in his early teens. Furious locals accused the soldiers of firing indiscriminately on innocent civilians.
07/29/03 03:14 ET
Reuters sucks.
Don't you ever sleep??
Grrrrrr! I get really tired of the media constantly putting phrases like this in print - daring the cowards to continue their attacks whether Hussein is around or not.
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