Confusion Over Arrest of Saddam’s Top Aide

The Iraqi authorities announced Sunday, September 5, that Ibrahim was arrested in a joint operation by the multinational forces and Iraqi national guardsmen.

But the US military have made it clear he is not in their custody, and the Iraqi national guard later denied involvement in any operation.

The Pentagon Sunday refused to confirm the reported arrest, and the US Department of Defense had "nothing to confirm" the capture.

"The last report I have is that it is probably not him," Pentagon spokesman Glenn Flood was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying.

Nevertheless, Flood could fully "neither confirm or deny" the reported arrest.

But the US military in Iraq said it did not have custody of Ibrahim, adding its troops were not involved in any such operation and no Iraqi official had informed any American of his arrest.

There have been several previous false reports about his arrest.

Ibrahim was reportedly seized as he received a blood transfusion in a clinic near his and Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit, Iraqi officials said.

But later Sunday, Iraqi officials, including Major General Ahmed Khalaf Salman, who is national guard commander for the central region where the capture reportedly took place, denied the arrest.

"Our forces did not take part in any operation and did not capture Izzat Ibrahim Al-Duri and we do not have any information concerning the subject," Salman said.

Another national guard commander in Tikrit earlier told AFP that Ibrahim had been captured in a clinic near Tikrit after fierce clashes that left scores of casualties.

Doctors Weigh In

For his part, Doctor Nashwan Mohammed Sabar at the Tikrit General hospital said the ailing Ibrahim had not been brought there.

At the clinic in Ad Dawr, where Iraqi national guard and interior ministry officials said Duri was caught, nurses Hassan Mohammed Al-Duri and Shema Kazem Alwan said: "We have never seen Izzat Ibrahim."

Asked about the flurry of denials, interior ministry spokesman Colonel Adnan Abdelrahman, who had previously confirmed the arrest and provided abundant details about its circumstances, said: "Call the defense ministry because these are the people who told us this story."

However, Iraqi defense ministry officials were not answering their phones.

Rear Admiral Greg Slavonic said this would have been unusual due to the high degree of cooperation between US and Iraqi forces.

DNA Tests

State Minister Qassem Daoud had earlier said "between 150 and 200 terrorists whom Duri supervised and financed" were arrested along with him, but he could not identify their nationalities.

"We have intelligence reports, some from foreign agencies, that Ibrahim was supervising and financing terrorist cells which were carrying out attacks on Iraqi people," he said.

Daoud said Ibrahim and his supporters were arrested in a joint operation by the multinational forces and Iraqi national guardsmen.

After the announcement, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s office said late Sunday that a person detained north of Baghdad who may or may not be Al-Duri is being given DNA tests to check his identity.

Douri – known as Saddam’s enforcer – has been described as the most senior figure in the former regime still at large, and the most wanted.

He was Saddam’s number two in the Revolutionary Command Council, and is sixth on the list of 55 most wanted members of the regime. The top five have all been captured or killed.

He has a $10m price tag on his head.