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CIA plays down hopes of finding Saddam's WMD By George Jones, Political Editor, and Alec Russell in Washington (Filed: 25/09/2003) In its first public comments on the search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, the CIA conceded last night that a long-awaited report on the hunt would reach "no firm conclusions". The comments appeared to underline diminishing hopes in Washington and Whitehall that WMD would be found. After several months in Iraq following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, David Kay, a former United Nations weapons inspector and the civilian head of the 1,400-strong Iraq Survey Group, is expected to submit...

Saddam's torture CDs go on sale By Patrick Bishop in Baghdad (Filed: 24/09/2003) The home movies of the family of Saddam Hussein, including grisly scenes of torture, are proving a best-seller on the streets of Baghdad. Some of the images show the dictator in a paternal role, smiling fondly at his brood and dandling their offspring on his knee. But the kitsch sequences are interspersed with dark recordings of torture sessions and executions. In one, Saddam's son Uday is seen lashing the soles of the feet of a soldier with a rubber pipe as his victim screams with pain and...

U.S. soldiers found a stash of cash and a briefcase of goodies in the mansion where Odai and Qusai Hussein were killed last week. The brothers had $100 million in U.S. dollars and Iraqi dinars, according to a report published Sunday. Based on the contents of a briefcase belonging to Odai, Saddam Hussein's elder son seemed to be preparing more for a night out than a fight. It contained pain-killers, cologne, Viagra, unopened packages of men's underwear, dress shirts, a silk tie and a condom, Newsweek reported. They also had two women's purses. Sunday, U.S. forces focused their hunt for...

The consequences of death of Saddam Hussein's sons give rise to several questions. If the questions remain unanswered, the death of the two important figures in Iraq looks unbelievable. It is not ruled out that the liquidation of the brothers was in fact a special operation launched to cover them up. The question number one: what did the men do in one of the main Kurd cities while it is known that their father had poisoned thousands of Kurds? We may suppose they just picked out an unusual way of committing a suicide there. On the contrary, they merely decided...

No tears shed for Saddam's sons in the Gulf July 23 2003 at 03:57PM By Samia Nakhoul Dubai - No tears are being shed for Saddam Hussein's two slain sons but many analysts in the Gulf warned the United States on Wednesday against complacency after the surprise breakthrough. Politicians, analysts and ordinary people across the region said Washington still had a long list of political woes to address in Iraq to restore stability before claiming victory. "Americans should not consider this as a big victory. They should not bask in their glory. They should look at it as another step...

Saddam's closest aides may be trying to flee to Belarus By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad 24 June 2003 Senior officials of the former Iraqi regime may be trying to flee to Belarus, according to evidence discovered when Saddam Hussein's chief aide was captured last week. Passports from the former Soviet republic were found with Abed Hamid Mahmoud, the Iraqi leader's closest confidant, when he was detained by American troops near Tikrit a week ago, said Hoshyar Zebari, a senior Kurdish official privy to intelligence on the hunt for Saddam Hussein. "Abed Hamid had just returned from Syria where he had...

Continuing Iraqi violence 'may be on Saddam's orders' A secret wartime Iraqi intelligence document ordered agents to start an underground terror campaign if Saddam Hussein was ousted. The decree reportedly tells operatives to sabotage infrastructure, loot and assassinate religious leaders to help destabilise the occupying forces. According to the Washington Times, the document was found in Basra and indicates that the current mayhem is part of an organised plan by the toppled regime. A US soldier yesterday became the eighth victim of attacks by Saddam loyalists in the last two weeks when he was shot dead at a checkpoint in...

Invite us to UK say Saddam's two daughters By Philip Sherwell in Baghdad (Filed: 08/06/2003) The eldest daughter of Saddam Hussein has broken her silence to tell The Telegraph that she and her sister have no plans to seek asylum in Britain, as it would not be "appropriate". Raghad Saddam Hussein, who remains in hiding in Iraq with her sister, Rana, said they might, however, move to Britain if they were granted visas. Last week their cousin, Izzi-Din Hassan al-Majid, who lives in exile in Leeds, told a newspaper that the sisters wanted to apply for asylum in Britain. Making...

The cousin of Saddam Hussein has landed in Britain, airport officials confirmed. Izzi-Din Mohammed Hassan al-Majid is believed to be organising asylum applications on behalf of the former Iraqi dictator's two daughters, Raghad and Rana Hussein, in Britain. Officials at Leeds Bradford airport confirmed a KLM flight from Amsterdam landed this morning with Mr al-Majid on board. A large group of reporters had gathered in the arrivals lounge at the airport hoping to speak to the former dictator's cousin. It is understood Mr al-Majid was spoken to by immigration officials before being allowed to continue his journey. Raghad and Rana...

Saddam's nephew finds sanctuary in Syria By Con Coughlin in Baghdad (Filed: 18/05/2003) A leading member of Saddam Hussein's family has been discovered living in Damascus under the protection of the Syrian government after fleeing Iraq last week, The Telegraph can reveal. Fatiq al-Majid, one of Saddam's nephews, entered Syria last Monday after leaving Iraq at the al-Rabie'a checkpoint, which is under the control of American troops. Majid was given a Syrian visa and made his way to Damascus, where he is now living in exile. Majid confirmed his presence in Damascus when contacted by telephone by The Telegraph last...

Lebanon recovers £300m of Saddam's stash Lebanon's central bank has located and secured £307 million in Iraqi funds, a Treasury official said. David Aufhauser, general counsel in the Treasury Department, said the disclosure by Lebanon was a sign of the progress being made in the worldwide search for Saddam's assets. Aufhauser told the House Financial Services oversight subcommittee that the assets in Lebanon apparently came from Iraq's central bank and other sources. The United States has stressed that all recovered assets will be used to help the people of Iraq and rebuild the country. Much of the money was taken...

Palestinian families mourn passing of Saddam's donations for suicide bombers and 'martyrs' By Justin Huggler in Beit Hanoun, Gaza 07 May 2003 With the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, the flow of millions of dollars that the Iraqi leader sent to support the Palestinian intifada has abruptly ended. The man who used to distribute Saddam's money, Ibrahim Za'anin, lives in Beit Hanoun, in the Gaza Strip near the border with Israel. You would not think from his humble bungalow that $12.5m (£7.7m) passed through his hands. But appearances can be deceptive in the Gaza Strip. In the hot...

Captured: the torturer and killer who hid Saddam's cash By Donald Macintyre at Central Command, Doha 18 April 2003 Barzan Al-Tikriti, Saddam Hussein's half-brother and one of his most feared associates, was captured yesterday by American-led marines and special forces in what was probably the most important operation of its kind since the war began. Barzan, who allegedly personally took part in the torturing to death of opponents, was seized in a raid in south Baghdad. He is believed to have helped Saddam Hussein to hide billions of dollars in other countries and has also been held responsible for the...

Fresh troops to target Saddam's home town as hunt continues By John Lichfield 10 April 2003 Even before fighting ends in Baghdad, American forces are turning their attention to Tikrit, 110 miles to the north – Saddam Hussein's home town and the likely last bastion of resistance of his regime. Despite Kurdish claims yesterday that President Saddam has escaped from the capital to take refuge in the town, some US commanders suggested that they were in no hurry to surround or capture Tikrit. Air attacks were reported yesterday on Republican Guard units in and around the town but US military...

Ban me, but have the courage to accept the truth. This War is wrong. Many innocent Iraqis have died. Many Americans have died. Iraq is in chaos. No food. No water. No power. I don't care if staged events involving a few criminals and looters make the people appear to be happy. Ask the ones who had their lives destroyed by American bombs. There are no WMDs. America will remain in Iraq long enough to: A) plunder its resouces B) ensure a Bush election victory in spite of massive deficits and a terrible economy. THIS WAR IS WRONG.

America's 'digital division' heads for Saddam's stronghold By Donald Macintyre in Qatar 07 April 2003 Units from the hi-tech US 4th Infantry Division, which was blocked by a decision of the Ankara parliament from entering Iraq from Turkey, have begun a 350-mile dash north from Kuwait towards Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's home stronghold some 100 miles north of Baghdad. Deployed in combat for the first time since the Vietnam War, the 4th Infantry is seen as a counterweight to Iraqi forces to the north of the capital and could be used if pro-Saddam forces tried to stage a last stand in...

Saddam's army retreats to Mosul with heavy losses By Patrick Cockburn near Mosul, northern Iraq 03 April 2003 The Iraqi army's northern front began to collapse yesterday as troops pulled back in confusion to the city of Mosul after suffering heavy losses from US air strikes and fighting with Kurdish militia. Sarbast Babiri, a Kurdish commander, smiled triumphantly as his men, many wearing captured Iraqi helmets, milled around him. "The Iraqi army has withdrawn to positions nine kilometres north of Mosul. They left behind heavy machine-guns, rocket launchers, food and many dead bodies," he said. The crumbling of the northern...

Herald Correspondent Lindsay Murdoch, travelling with a Marines artillery unit, reports on one of the war's first battles on the Iraq-Kuwait border. There was little initial resistance as the United States Marines swept into southern Iraq early yesterday. One of the first encounters of the ground war was more like a massacre than a fight. The Iraqi gunners fired first, soon after United States President George Bush announced the attack on Saddam Hussein was under way. It was a fatal mistake. The Iraqi artillery unit, preparing for the American invasion, had tested the range by firing registering shots at a...

Saddam's troops fire the first shots of the conflict By Patrick Cockburn in northern Iraq 19 March 2003 Two Iraqi helicopters fired machine guns and rockets into three Kurdish villages on the front line north of Kirkuk yesterday, in the first shots intended to kill in the coming war. ''There were two of them, one an attack helicopter and the other normally used for transport, attacking the villages where people herding cattle live," Mohammed Fateh, a local Kurdish military commander, said. Kurdish officers believe that the Iraqi helicopter attack on the three impoverished and half-ruined villages of Bashtapa, Girdalanka and...

UN inspectors uncover proof of Saddam's nuclear bomb plans By Con Coughlin (Filed: 19/01/2003) United Nations weapons inspectors have uncovered evidence that proves Saddam Hussein is trying to develop an arsenal of nuclear weapons, The Telegraph can reveal. The discovery was made following spot checks last week on the homes of two Iraqi nuclear physicists in Baghdad. Acting on information provided by Western intelligence, the UN inspection teams discovered a number of documents proving that Saddam is continuing with his attempts to develop nuclear weapons, contrary to his public declarations that Iraq is no longer interested in producing weapons of...