Saddam hussein capture drivers#
Saddam hussein capture trial#

If the military was going to locate him, it would have to start from scratch. Second, Saddam appeared not to be seeking protection from the men on the deck of cards. First, if Abid was to be believed, Saddam Hussein was alive. This was bad news for the war effort for two reasons. The trusted aide, who some called “Saddam’s Shadow,” told interrogators he and Saddam’s two sons had parted ways with the dictator a while back, after Saddam became convinced they could survive longer if they separated. But hopes that Abid could lead the United States to Saddam were quickly dashed. “Captured Iraqi May Know Fate of Saddam,” the Associated Press declared. Newspapers trumpeted his mid-June capture as the war’s biggest feat. Abid, a ubiquitous presence behind the dictator in pre-war photos, had controlled access to Saddam during his years in power. He wasn’t anyone on the deck of playing cards depicting the regime’s 55 most-wanted members, and the coalition troops had much bigger priorities than hunting down bodyguards.Ĭonsider the case of Abid Hamid Mahmoud al-Khatab, Saddam’s trusted personal secretary and the Ace of Diamonds. Nobody was particularly worried about the guy next to the dictator, a heavyset man in a brown striped shirt and sunglasses. When grainy footage of the Butcher of Baghdad’s last promenade surfaced 10 days later, most analysts were preoccupied with determining whether it was authentic.

At the time, American intelligence officers didn’t know whether Saddam had survived a hailstorm of 2,000-pound bombs and Tomahawk missiles fired at the beginning of the war. Marines in Baghdad tore down a 40-foot-tall bronze statue of the Iraqi dictator. Not long after-possibly that same day, just a few miles away from where Saddam went on his celebratory walk-U.S. When he reached a white sedan, Saddam climbed onto the hood to survey the sea of loyalists. Someone handed Saddam a bewildered baby, which he hoisted up in the air a few times and handed back. It was April 2003, and Saddam Hussein cheerily greeted his subjects as a few bodyguards tried to keep the crowd at bay.

Saddam hussein capture drivers#

troops or by all three.Traffic had slowed to a crawl in Baghdad’s Azamiyah district as drivers stopped to ogle the president. It remains unknown whether the actual arrest was made by Kurdish, Peshmerga, U.S. Yet the so-called Iraqi resistance perhaps received a mortal blow. authorities said Saddam Hussein's capture would not stop their search for other generals and collaborators of the former regime. Many correspondents affirmed that now in various cities in Iraq people have come out of their homes to discuss openly Saddam Hussein's capture, while accusing the ex-dictator of many crimes. In Kirkuk, people were seen rejoicing in the streets and heard firing celebratory shots in the air. Kanfar also assured that a DNA test proved that the man captured was Saddam Hussein with 100% certainty.

Saddam hussein capture trial#

Ahmed Shalabi, member of the Provisional Government, assured Saddam Hussein would receive a fair trial by Iraqi tribunal.Īlready this morning Intifad Kanfar, Kurdish spokesman for the Provisional Government, had confirmed the capture.

Sanchez said Saddam Hussein was in good condition, had a long beard and was cooperating with authorities. Around 600 military personnel participated in the raid. The former dictator showed no signs of resistance, after being found in a hole dug into the ground under piles of refuse and rubble.

13 after a house-by-house sweep was conducted by coalition forces in the dictator's homeland

The arrest occurred on Saturday evening Dec. Bremer, American supervisor of the Provisional Government, said it was 'a great day' for Iraq. The dictator's arrest was confirmed by Paul Bremer and General Ricardo Sanchez at a press conference held in Baghdad. Baghdad (AsiaNews) - Saddam Hussein was captured alive in Aghwar near Tikrit, the Iranian press agency, IRNA, reported.