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| Iraq: The hunt continues | |
| THE DAYAFTER NEWS AND FEATURE SERVICE | |
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On April 11, 2003 the U. S. A. had released its ‘hit-list’ containing details about the 55 leaders who were to be pursued, captured or killed. The list, in the form of a "deck of cards" with pictures of the wanted figures, was distributed to the thousands of U. S. troops in Iraq to help them identify the senior colleagues of Saddam. It was also put on posters and handbills. The list contained information about Saddam’s inner circle, as well as senior Baath Party officials and military commanders-some of whom have already been apprehended. Saddam tops the list followed by his sons Qusay and Uday. Qusay is Saddam’s younger son and chosen successor. The 36-year-old Qusay was in charge of the Special Republican Guard and the feared intelligence and security services. Uday was commander of Saddam’s Fedayeen forces and president of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee. Recently, at Washington’s request, the U. N. Security Council called on world governments to freeze the assets of the 55 most wanted Iraqis. The Council’s committee on Iraq sanctions said any nation finding money or other financial assets within its borders that belonged to any of the 55 must---now seize those assets and turn them over to a newly-created Fund for Iraqi Development. France has already responded to the request. The United States of America has placed a $ 25 million bounty on the head of Saddam Hussein. Paul Bremer, U. S. administrator for Iraq, has also offered $ 15 million for information leading to the capture of Uday and Qusay, calling all three "among the most evil men the world has known". It is believed that till date 33 of the 55 leaders have been reportedly arrested, though the figures are contested at various levels. The arrested include several top aides of Saddam, including Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, Saddam’s presidential secretary and No. 4 on the most-wanted list, and former deputy prime minister and spokesman Tareq Aziz. | |
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Some of those captured
Abd al-Tawab Mullah Huwaysh Abid Hamid al-Tikriti Aziz Salih al-Numan Tariq Aziz Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti Watban Ibrahim al-Tikriti Muhammad Hazmaq al-Zubaidi Humam Abd al-Khaliq Abd al-Ghafur Jamal Mustafa Abdallah Sultan al-Tikriti Hikmat al-Azzawi Samir abd al-Aziz al-Najm Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Saadi |
The
war in Iraq has ended but America’s hunt for the country’s ‘most
wanted’ continues. The pack of 55, as the list of the ‘wanted’ is
called, consists of the most powerful and key leaders of the Saddam
Hussein regime with Saddam himself at the top.
