International   

Doubts over Saddam capture claims

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Doubts have surfaced over American claims about the exact circumstances of the former Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein's arrest two years ago after he was reported as saying he was "gassed'' by U.S. troops before being taken into custody.

Human rights campaigners said his remarks contradicted the official American version according to which no force was used during the operation which led to Mr. Hussein's capture in a small cellar at a farmhouse near his hometown of Tikrit.

Mr. Hussein's account, reported by his lawyer Ramsay Clarke in an interview to a British newspaper, also contradicted American claims suggesting that he had been living in the "spider hole'' for sometime.

Mr. Clarke told The Sun that, according to Mr. Hussein, he spent barely "minutes'' in the tunnel and not "hours or days'' as suggested by American authorities.

"Saddam thinks he was gassed in the tunnel. He told us he spent maybe minutes in this tunnel, not hours or days. When he started to get out there were soldiers around that area,'' he said quoting Mr. Hussein as saying he "lost consciousness'' as he emerged from the tunnel.

Betrayed

Mr. Hussein said the plan had been for him to come out of the tunnel and get on to a waiting motorbike and escape but he was "betrayed'' by those who had given him shelter.

"There was supposed to be a motorcycle there. It was gone. Saddam knew the person who owned the house wasn't there. He knew he had been betrayed. Probably American soldiers did not discover the hole. They were told about it,'' Mr. Clarke said.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Rajapakse orders probe into violence in northern Jaffna
"Britishness" test for imams dropped
Relief work best to improve U.S. image: Cheney
Doubts over Saddam capture claims
Transport strike hits New York
U.S. faces a challenge in South America
Ban is no music in Teheran
Nepal rejects Maoists' offer
Uganda asked to pay Congo damages
China's stress on a new socialist countryside
Formal pact on Lahore-Amritsar bus service today
First Sikh officer in Pakistan army

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu