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WITNESSES have reportedly told an Australian journalist how new Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi shot and killed up to six prisoners just days before his government took control of the country. A newspaper report today said the two witnesses saw Dr Allawi pull a pistol and execute suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station. Dr Allawi's office has denied the claims and branded them "outrageous". The witnesses said the handcuffed and blindfolded prisoners were lined up against a wall in a courtyard next to the maximum-security cell block in which they were held at the Al-Amariyah security centre. They say...

London - Saddam Hussein is hiding in villages along the Tigris River north of Baghdad along with his former chemical weapons chief, known as "Chemical Ali", Britain's Independent newspaper said on Monday. The Independent cited the former head of Iraqi military intelligence, General Wafiq al-Samarrai, as saying the two wanted men are hiding in an area of farmland and small villages between Baghdad and the city of Samarra, about 100 kilometres to the north. Despite a price of $25-million (R187,5-million) on his head, Saddam has been able to escape capture because the area is heavily populated and has thick vegetation,...

Saddam is hiding near Baghdad, says exiled spy chief By Patrick Cockburn in Samarra, Iraq 14 July 2003 Saddam Hussein and Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali, are hiding in an area of farmland and small villages on the Tigris river between Baghdad and the city of Samarra, says a former senior Iraqi intelligence officer. General Wafiq al-Samarrai, head of Iraqi military intelligence before he went into exile, is assisting American forces in the hunt for Saddam. He said the deposedleader had been able to escape capture because the area was heavily populated and had thick vegetation. "He...