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24-7-2003 Scotsman Taped message a timely reminder that the main target is still to be caught By Gethin Chamberlain THE voice on the tape was familiar to anyone who had ever heard Saddam Hussein speak. The battle was not over yet, it said, rise up and the American invaders could be defeated. "We tell our armed forces and our people that if America has achieved military superiority, it will not achieve supremacy in the battle of wills against the Iraqi people," the voice said. "Our will will not surrender and won't be defeated. The battle is not over yet." The tape, believed to have been recorded on Sunday, will need to be analysed, but those who heard it were in little doubt that it was another message from Saddam. For the US forces, buoyed by their successful operation against Saddam's sons, it was a timely reminder that the man they are most desperate to capture remains at large. For the people of Iraq, it was a warning that the deaths of Uday and Qusay still do not guarantee that they are free of the man who ruled their country with an iron fist for more than 30 years. What will give the United States encouragement is that Saddam's sons were betrayed by their own people. They will argue that the willingness of Iraqi citizens to come forward with information about their former rulers indicates that the fear factor is beginning to fade. All the same, Nawaf al- Zaydan Muhhamad, the man who stands to pick up GBP 20 million for pointing US forces in the direction of the brothers, has been placed in protective custody to save him from reprisals. The Americans must now hope that others are prepared to take a similar risk. In Baghdad, celebrating Iraqis fired barrages of red tracer bullets into the night sky, but Paul Bremer, the US administrator of the country, cautioned that "there will be some people who will be pretty unhappy that we killed these two guys". Those people will take heart from the audio tape of Saddam urging Iraqis to fight on against the occupying forces. The tape, aired by al-Arabiya television, based in Dubai, was dated 20 July, two days before US troops killed Saddam's sons in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. "Although the occupation is factually present in the form of the US army, occupation is not officially settled. The will of the people and that of the armed forces and the political leaderships are not subdued," the voice said, urging Iraqis to rise up in a new "liberation army". It added: "Let our awakening be a new lesson that can be added to the history of our nation and humanity." The deaths of Uday and Qusay are an important breakthrough, but the Americans know that the capture or killing of Saddam holds the real key to success in Iraq. US forces have been operating on the assumption the former leader is still alive and probably hiding in northern Iraq. Officials have blamed die-hard Saddam loyalists for the guerrilla insurgency which has left at least 41 US troops and six British soldiers dead in attacks against them since George Bush, the American president, declared combat over on 1 May. The hunt for Saddam has been handed to a unit called Task Force 20, the US military's closest equivalent to the SAS, which was heavily involved in the attack on Uday and Qusay. It consists of select members of Delta Force, the US special operations division, and intelligence officers from the CIA, and is reported to have the use of spy satellites, photo reconnaissance aircraft and unmanned drones. In theory, pursuing with intent to kill violates a long-standing policy banning political assassination, but it was the misfortune of Saddam's sons that the Bush administration has not bothered to enforce the prohibition. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of coalition troops in Iraq, left little doubt what the US troops hoped to accomplish. "We remain focused on finding, fixing, killing or capturing all members of the high-value target list," he said. Earlier this week, Mr Bremer stated in unusually candid terms the administration's disregard for the assassination ban. He said officials presumed that Saddam was still alive and that American forces were trying to kill him. "The sooner we can either kill him or capture him, the better," Mr Bremer said. Mr Bremer went on to stress that the rationale for going after Saddam now, although he is no longer in power, is that he remains a rallying-point for supporters. In Mosul yesterday, residents seemed unperturbed by the killings, watching with interest the US troops outside the wrecked mansion. Muhammad Khalil, a local businessman, thought the killing of the brothers meant that the net was closing on Saddam. "One should be close to the other," he said. With a GBP 15 million price on his head, Saddam's time may be running out. "The net is closing around Saddam," said Frank Umbach, a security analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations. "Iraq is different from Afghanistan where the opportunities to escape and hide are much greater. Saddam Hussein is also hated by much of his own population." Larry Korb, a former assistant US defence secretary now at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, said the example of the informer in Mosul could sway more Iraqis behind the troops, creating a domino effect of tip-offs. "People have been hedging their bets. Now, they're liable to come over to our side," he said. "If this guy who supposedly gave the intelligence gets the money - and stays alive - it could encourage other people to turn in Saddam. Somebody is going to know where he is." The trick will be to reassure Iraqis that Saddam can be caught after evading US-led forces since they toppled him from power on 9 April.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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