Hunters close in on tired and lonely tyrant
(Filed: 27/07/2003)


American special forces - and old age - are fast catching up with the fugitive former Iraqi president, reveals his biographer, Con Coughlin


Suddenly Saddam feels his age. Deprived of the elaborate security apparatus that maintained him in power for more than three decades, the 66-year-old deposed Iraqi dictator spends his days scurrying from one safe house to another, desperately trying to avoid the clutches of the American special forces who are now hot on his trail.

As coalition forces yesterday continued to interrogate several of Saddam's personal bodyguards, who were picked up on Friday in a raid on a house in al-Ouja, the dictator's birthplace, there was mounting confidence among coalition commanders that the former Iraqi leader is running out of places to hide.


Cameramen film inside the mortuary where the bodies of Uday and Qusay lie
"We continue to tighten the noose," declared Maj-Gen Ray Odierno, commander of the US Army's 4th Infantry Division, which is spearheading the hunt for Saddam around Tikrit. American commanders are hopeful that, following the deaths of Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay, the tyrant and the remnants of his loyalists are in a state of disarray.

"We're always looking for Saddam and it's just a matter of time," said Major Josslyn Aberle, the 4th Infantry Division's spokesman. "We've got the remnants of the former regime on the run. They know they can't stay in one place for more than an hour or two, so it's just a matter of time, whether it's the 4th Infantry Division, or the 101st, or the other coalition partners, before we get him."

American military commanders are also confident that capturing Saddam will help to end the deadly cycle of guerrilla attacks by Ba'ath party loyalists against US troops. Yesterday three US soldiers were killed and four wounded in a grenade attack at a children's hospital at Baquba, 30 miles north of Baghdad. The attack on soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division brings to 47 the number killed by hostile fire since President George W Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1.

Certainly, if Saddam were to be caught now it is unlikely that he would look anything like the confident, dark-haired, moustachioed figure depicted in countless portraits and statues. Just as his sons had grown beards and adopted traditional Arab dress to help conceal their true identities, so Saddam today would most probably be found sporting long grey hair and a long grey beard.

During the Gulf war in 1991, Saddam evaded capture by driving around the country in a camper van. A former bodyguard of his eldest son Uday last week claimed that Saddam had used a similar tactic during the present conflict, even driving around Baghdad in beaten-up old bangers after the Americans had taken control of the Iraqi capital.

The big difference between the last conflict and this, however, is that the Iraqi people now appear to have found the courage to betray their former leader.

One of the biggest obstacles the coalition has encountered since overthrowing the Iraqi regime in April has been the reluctance of ordinary Iraqis to co-operate fully with the occupying powers. So long as Saddam, his sons and his inner circle remained at large, the people were fearful that they would be subjected to revenge attacks if they were suspected of collaboration.

Last week's bloody dispatch of Uday and Qusay appears to have changed that, with Iraqis coming forward to offer information about the whereabouts of Saddam loyalists.

No doubt many are encouraged by the $25 million reward that has been put on Saddam's head, particularly after State Department officials confirmed that the informant who provided US troops with the tip-off that led them to Uday and Qusay would receive the maximum $30 million reward that had been offered for the capture of the two men ($15m each).

The Iraqis will also be encouraged by the knowledge that Saddam is fast running out of allies. More than two-thirds of the former regime members named in the Pentagon's pack of cards of most-wanted Ba'athists are now either dead or in American custody. Of Saddam's trusted Ba'athist old guard only Taha Yassin Ramadan, the former vice-president, and Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the former deputy head of the defunct Revolutionary Command Council, still remain at large.

Although coalition commanders were clearly attempting to unsettle Saddam by publishing graphic images of his two dead sons, the only emotion he is likely to have felt is immense pride in the manner of their death, pinning down 200 heavily armed American soldiers for nearly six hours before finally being overwhelmed by their superior firepower. Now Saddam's priority will be to ensure the survival of his last remaining son, Ali. Saddam invested much energy in making sure that the Hussein dynasty would survive him. Now his hopes rest on Ali, the precocious 16-year-old son of Samira Shahbandar, his second wife.

As for Saddam himself, he will still be desperately hoping that he can evade the dogged attentions of Task Force 20, the highly secretive American military unit that has been authorised to use any means possible to take out the Iraqi tyrant.

Despite the claims by the Americans that they are hot on his trail, Saddam still appears able to continue broadcasting messages urging the Iraqi people to continue with their armed resistance against the occupying forces; another tape will most likely make an appearance this week.

Survival has always been Saddam's main priority. Having already survived two bombing raids during Operation Iraqi Freedom that were clearly designed to kill him, he will still believe that he can survive the current crisis.

This, after all, is a man who has been on the run most of his political career; he spent most of his 24 years as president hiding from his own people.

The likelihood, however, is that Saddam will go the same way as his two sons. When the moment comes that US special forces are able to identify his hideout, Saddam will fight to the death. Surrender is a concept he does not understand.