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3-5-2003 Scotsman US adds to tally of most-wanted arrests By Gethin Chamberlain AND then there were 36. Yesterday, the United States picked off the ten of hearts, the nine of hearts and the nine of diamonds from its deck of cards depicting the most wanted men in Iraq, representing the 16th, 41st and 42nd people on its list. The most important capture was Abd al-Tawab Mullah Huwaysh, the head of the military industrialisation ministry and, according to the United States, the man in charge of the "primary agency responsible for Iraq's weapons of mass destruction programmes during the Eighties". He was the ten of hearts, and number 16 on the list of the most wanted. Mizban Khadr Hadi, a member of Saddam Hussein's Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) and a top Baath Party leader, was number 41 on the list, the nine of hearts in the US deck. Taha Mohieddin Ma'rouf, a vice president under Saddam and a member of his RCC, was number 42, the nine of diamonds. Their capture brought to 18 the number of people featured on the 55 cards who have so far been captured by the US. Another, as yet unnamed, is reported to have been killed. But the real stars of the pack remain on the run; Saddam and his sons continuing to elude capture. US officials were yesterday giving no details about where the men were being held or whether they surrendered or were captured. US Central Command said in a statement from its war headquarters in Qatar that Huwaysh and Ma'rouf were "now in coalition control". A spokesman at Central Command said the two men were taken into custody on Thursday. The military industrialisation ministry headed by Huwaysh was presumed still to have responsibility for weapons of mass destruction until the Saddam government fell on 9 April. Iraqi leaders have said they destroyed all weapons of mass destruction after the 1991 Gulf War, but suspicions that they had not were a key reason for the US-led invasion that began on 20 March. So far, none of the suspected weapons has been found, although numerous suspicious sites have been and are being tested, military officials said. While one of only two vice presidents and a member of Saddam's RCC, Ma'rouf was not considered part of the former Iraqi leader's inner circle and rarely appeared in public or made statements. He made trips to Morocco and Italy last fall to rally support against US attacks and to lobby for the United Nations oil-for-food programme with Iraq. Hadi was said to be a close confidant of the deposed Iraqi leader. He was captured in Baghdad, according to the US army's Fifth Corps. Hadi was listed as number 41 of the 55 most-wanted figures and was depicted as the nine of hearts in the "deck of cards" issued by the US military to track them. Hadi was said to be among Saddam's most trusted aides, who were elevated by the Iraqi leader in March to command the country's four military regions in an attempt to delegate command and strengthen the defence of the country against the US invasion that came later that month. He was placed in charge of the area that included the Shiite Muslim holy cities of Karbala and Najaf. Saddam's regime was made up primarily of members of the minority Sunni Muslim community. In May 2001, Hadi was put in charge of the party's Farmers' Central Office. He was reportedly extremely close to Saddam and has been one of his advisers, especially on Shiite affairs, since the early 1980s. Hadi had been a minister without portfolio since June 1982 and before that was the governor of Najaf. He was decorated by Saddam for his services during the 1991 Gulf War and the month-long Shiite rebellion that followed Iraq's defeat. The latest arrests come hours after George Bush, the US president, gave a victory speech, saying the US had prevailed in the "Battle of Iraq". Mr Bush promised to continue his war on terror, warning: "We will continue to hunt down the enemy before he can strike." Among those captured already are Tariq Aziz, the former deputy prime minister of Iraq, who was number 43 on the US list, and Watban Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti, Saddam's half brother; number 51 on the list. TIKRIT RAID 20 IN CUSTODY US SOLDIERS raided a dozen buildings in Saddam Hussein's home town yesterday, taking about 20 people into custody, including a suspected local Baath Party leader. One Iraqi was killed, according to Major Mike Silverman, operations officer of the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division. The raid, the second in Tikrit in as many days, began shortly after midnight when six Bradley fighting vehicles sealed off a neighbourhood of houses and apartment blocks. "The message is consistent," Major Silverman said. "If you're part of the shadow regime, we're coming after you."
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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