Posted on 04/23/2008 5:27:31 PM PDT by blam
Saddam Hussein's ally Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri 'captured' in Iraq
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 12:57am BST 24/04/2008
American forces have captured Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party heir, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the most wanted former regime official still at large, it has been reported.
A Middle Eastern television channel said Douri, a key force in the country's devastating insurgency, had been seized in a mountain raid in Saddam's home province of Salahaddin.
Most wanted: Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Douri was King of Clubs in the deck of cards of most wanted Iraqis issued to American soldiers after the war.
But he was almost unique in evading capture within the top rungs of the regime deposed by the US-led coalition in 2003.
A US spokesman said the Baghdad command was unable to confirm his capture, but the television reports said he had been handed to US forces and DNA tests would be carried out to confirm his identity.
Abu Mohammed, described as Douri's representative in Syria, claimed the reports were fabricated, saying Douri was free and "leading the resistance and jihad in Iraq".
Western intelligence credited Douri, whose name derives from the neighbouring village to Saddam's native town, with a continuing important role in the insurgency.
A wizened bureaucrat with red hair, the former vice-chairman of Saddam's Revolutionary Command Council was not cut out for the underground but he survived for five years on guile and a broad range of connections.
Mowafaq al-Rubaie, Iraq's National Security adviser, told a Saudi newspaper that Syria was sheltering Douri and accused the 65-year-old of playing a key role connecting former regime officials with al-Qa'eda followers.
As the last recognised leader of the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, he found post-war support in Syria and used his position in Damascus to frustrate attempts by moderates to start negotiations with democratic regimes.
Known since childhood as the Ice Man, his state of health was rumoured to be fragile and several reports had said he died of leukaemia.
But he enjoyed strong tribal support among Sunni Muslim sympathisers as well as Al-Qa'eda sympathisers.
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An Iraqi court announced that Tariq Aziz, the urbane Christian Iraqi who was the dictatorship's voice to the world, would face trial for the persecution of Baghdad merchants in the 1990s.
The announcement of charges for Aziz and six other top officials, including Saddam's half brother, Watban Ibrahim al-Hassan, dashed hopes in the Vatican that the long-serving foreign minister would be freed on grounds of ill-health.
The trial centres on the execution of 42 merchants rounded up after the first Gulf War and accused of profiteering from Iraq's isolation.
The Deck of Cards continues to fall...
Huge news if this turns out to be true.
Outstanding news! I got the rope!
He’s the redhead.
I read a while back we were planning to use him in some capacity if we ever found him. Maybe the price was finally right.
Excellent news.
King of Clubs
Operationally, he is believed to be the linchpin between Ba’athist dead-enders, all sorts of other Sunni terrorists, and outside flows of support from Syria, etc. He probably knows more than anyone still alive about sources of funds, weapons, jihadists, etc. coming into Iraq on the Sunni side of things. At least that’s what I hear..... from fellow keyboard commandos.
He could also provide info that would devastate Assad’s regime, if only we could get at what he knows.
Good catch guys!
He’s the king of clubs in the Iraq Most Wanted deck. Izzat the guy? LOL
I can only see (hear) this guy speaking with a sophisticated British accent. Arabic coming from him just wouldn’t work.
ALRIGHT!!! Hurry up and hang him before he dies of old age.
Informative. Thanks.
A waterboard candidate.....administered by the Iraqi’s of course....
Lord God...Please let it be true this time.
I knew the good guys would catch up to that dirtbag eventually.
The Clinton campaign will issue a full denial by morning.
No, no. If we can entice him, he can help us fix every single problem our guys face over there.
I thought we got him over a year ago. He’s the one who knows what happened to Scott Speicher.....
oh goodie they got Red
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