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US reaps rewards of Saddam's capture

Iraqi civilians gather around a charred vehicle in front of a police station following an attack yesterday north of Baghdad. PHOTO: AFP

Saddam Hussein's capture is reaping dividends for the US military, providing intelligence that led to the arrest of several top regime figures in Baghdad, a US general said yesterday.

Suicide bombers attacked police stations in the capital, killing eight people as the insurgency showed no sign of letting up.

A member of the Iraqi Governing Council said Saddam could be put on trial in the next few weeks and face execution if convicted, though another member said it could take four to six months to begin the trial before a war crimes tribunal set up last week.

"My name is Saddam Hussein," the fallen Iraqi leader told US troops in English as they pulled him out of a dank hole Saturday night where he had been hiding in the village of Adwar, north of Baghdad. "I am the president of Iraq and I want to negotiate."

A US Special Forces soldier replied: "Regards from President Bush," according to Major Bryan Reed, operations officer for the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division.

American officials said interrogations of Saddam, whose current location was unknown, will focus first on getting intelligence on the the insurgency.

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Saddam was not helping.

"He has not been cooperative in terms of talking or anything like that," Rumsfeld told CBS' 60 Minutes on Sunday.

But US Army Brigadier General Mark Hertling of the 1st Armored Division told reporters in Baghdad that the first round of Saddam's questioning and documents in a briefcase found with him was "connecting the dots" in intelligence on the insurgency.

Since Saddam's capture, US Army teams from the 1st Armored Division have captured one high-ranking former regime figure -- who has yet to be identified -- and that prisoner has given up a few others, Hertling said. All the men are currently being interrogated and more raids are expected, Hertling said.

"We've already gleaned intelligence value from his capture," Hertling said. "We've already been able to capture a couple of key individuals here in Baghdad. We've completely confirmed one of the cells. It's putting the pieces together and it's connecting the dots. It has already helped us significantly in Baghdad."

Hertling said: "I'm sure he was giving some guidance to some key figures in this insurgency."

With Saddam's capture, 13 figures remained at large from the US military's list of 55 most-wanted regime officials. The highest ranking is Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a close Saddam aide who US officials say may be directly organizing resistance.

Violence continued despite Saddam's capture. Yesterday, car bombings at police stations in Baghdad left eight policemen dead and at least 17 wounded, police officials said. The deadliest attack was a suicide attack at a station house in northern Baghdad where the eight officers were killed. Two other car bombings at a station in the west of the city caused seven injuries and additional explosions rocked the city hours later.

US President George W. Bush had warned attacks would not stop even with Saddam in custody.

Hertling said he hoped Saddam will eventually clear up allegations that he had chemical, biological and nuclear weapons program.

"I certainly think some of that will come out," Hertling said. "I think we'll get some significant intelligence over the next couple of days."

Saddam's exact whereabouts yesterday were unclear. US officials said he had been moved to a secure location and remains in Iraq, Hertling said. CNN and the Dubai-based Arab TV station al-Arabiya reported Saddam was taken to Qatar. A spokesman at US Central Command would not give information on Saddam's location.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday that it hopes US authorities will let it visit Saddam to check on the conditions in which he is being held. It declined to comment on whether the US already has breached international law by publishing photos and video images of Saddam after his capture.

Saddam could be tried "in the next few weeks" and could be executed if convicted, said Mouwafak al-Rabii, a Shiite member of the Iraqi Governing Council said yesterday. Other council members said a trial would likely begin later.

Eager to prove to Iraqis that Saddam was in custody, the US military showed video of the ousted leader, haggard and gray-bearded, as a military doctor examined him. In Baghdad, radio stations played jubilant music and some bus passengers shouted, "They got Saddam! They got Saddam!"

But some residents of Adwar recalled fondly how Saddam used to swim in the nearby Tigris River and bemoaned the capture of the leader who donated generously to area residents.

"This is bad news to all Iraqis," said Ammar Zidan, 21. "Even if they captured Saddam Hussein, we are all Saddam Hussein. We want freedom ... from the Americans."

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