Al-Douri, sadaams second in command captured by Iraqi/US Force

[dude1394]

Too bad they didn't kill the bastard... I know that information is more important, but my gut would feel better if he'd gone down like his patronx uday and qusay...It is a testament to how the media and the US have moved on when this type of news can't beat out a hurricane.

Report: Saddam's No. 2 arrested
U.S. believes Ibrahim al-Douri has been organizing resistance forces
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, at a ceremony in Baghdad in December 2002.
The Associated Press
Updated: 9:43 a.m. ET Sept. 5, 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces captured Saddam Hussein's former second-in-command, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the most wanted former regime figure in Iraq, officials said.

[Chiwas]

Good news.

[knowitall]

Didn't the pentagon say they doubted that he had been captured? Anybody out there know for sure?

[Chiwas]

Hmmm, maybe it's just like the WMD-found news.

We need pics.

[Mavdog]

much confusion
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Iraq Govt. Seeks to Confirm if Saddam Aide Held

By Waleed Ibrahim and Tom Perry

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq (news - web sites)'s government was scrambling on Sunday to confirm whether the most wanted Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) aide still on the run had been captured, as confident statements that he had been seized gave way to doubt and confusion.

The Defense Ministry said Izzat Ibrahim al Douri, who was sixth on a U.S. list of the 55 most wanted members of Saddam's administration and had a $10 million price on his head, was arrested in Tikrit, Saddam's former powerbase north of Baghdad.

Two Iraqi ministers said Ibrahim was caught in a bloody raid in which 150 of his supporters tried to prevent his capture.

Iraqi Minister of State Wael Abdul al-Latif said it was "75 to 90 percent certain" the captured man was Ibrahim, adding that 70 of the former official's supporters were killed and 80 were captured when they tried to thwart his arrest.

He said Arabs from outside Iraq had been among those protecting Ibrahim, who was suffering from leukemia.

"He's in a very deteriorated state of health," Latif said.

Latif said U.S.-backed Iraqi forces captured Ibrahim, but the U.S. military said it had no knowledge of such an operation and the fugitive was not in U.S. custody. In Washington, White house spokesman Trent Duffy said: "We're still trying to confirm (Ibrahim's capture). We've seen the news reports."

The provincial Iraqi National Guard commander in Tikrit said none of his men were involved in any capture mission.

"We have no information. No units of ours took part in such an operation," Major General Ahmed Khalaf Salman said.

There was also no sign around Tikrit of any battle involving dozens killed.

An aide to Iraq's prime minister said DNA tests were under way to confirm whether a man in Iraqi custody was Ibrahim.

"We cannot confirm it is Ibrahim al-Douri until we get the DNA tests back and we match them. They are still doing the DNA tests. A committee of Americans and Iraqis will be conducting the DNA tests," he told Reuters.

KING OF CLUBS

In a deck of cards issued to U.S. troops to help them identify fugitives, Ibrahim was the King of Clubs.

Reports that Ibrahim was captured spread fast in Baghdad, and in some districts residents fired in the air in celebration.

"He is the symbol of the former regime," said retired civil servant Abbas al-Kabbi, 50. "It is the end of a bloody criminal regime."

Minister of State Kasim Daoud told a news conference in Kuwait that the attempt by scores of people to prevent the arrest confirmed the man was a major figure in the insurgency.

"The presence of the 150 people or more in the area, some of whom tried to defend him, indicates he was supervising terrorist factions that tried to harm civilians and to stop the democratic growth of the Iraqi homeland," Daoud said. But Tikrit residents said they had seen no signs of any battle.

Ibrahim was Saddam's number two in the Revolutionary Command Council and held a senior post on a government committee in charge of northern Iraq when chemical weapons were used against the town of Halabja in 1988, killing thousands of Kurds.

The red-haired Ibrahim was born in 1942 near Tikrit, some 160 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad, the son of an ice seller. He was one of Saddam's top aides and most trusted confidants.

His daughter was briefly married to Saddam's elder son Uday.

The top five on the U.S. most wanted list, including Saddam, his sons Uday and Qusay, and "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid, have already been captured or killed.

Daoud said trials of Saddam and other top members of the regime would begin soon. "Saddam Hussein and his band will stand trials within a period of weeks," he said.

[Drbio]

There could be a multitude of reasons why this isn't being yet substantiated ranging from the story not being true to the US wanting to not release the story for security reasons. Who knows.

[Drbio]

Well....it is official. All of the major news outlets are reporting the capture now.

[dude1394]

What outlets doc....Online stuff still have question marks.

[Drbio]

Just heard it on the local (NBC) news and then switched over to CNN and saw it there too.

I assume since NBC and CNN are reporting it, it's been released by the gov't.

[dude1394]

*******-A!!!

[Drbio]

CNN.com is still reporting the "Confusion" story, but I just heard it on the cable report.

[dude1394]

Unfortunately he's still alive it seems.

commandpost

Officials from Iraq’s new government were left embarrassed last night after mistakenly announcing the capture of Saddam Hussein’s deputy, the most senior figure from the regime still on the run. A defence ministry spokesman announced that US troops and Iraqi National Guard forces had arrested Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri in a violent gunbattle outside the central city of Tikrit. Wael Abdul-Latif, a minister of state in the new government, told Reuters it was 75 to 90% certain that the man was Mr al-Douri, 62.