The former Iraqi oil minister, Amir Rashid Muhammad al-Ubaydi, has surrendered to the U.S.-led coalition forces, the U.S. Central Command said. He surrendered Monday and is in coalition custody.
Talk to his wife?
Al-Ubaydi was listed as Number 47 on the coalition's list of the 55 most-wanted officials from the Saddam Hussein regime and was denominated as the six of spades in the deck of cards issued to coalition forces to identify top regime members. Rashid, a former Iraqi army general known as the "Missile Man," was Saddam's point-man on weapons delivery systems and eventually rose to the prestigious post of oil minister. He is married to Dr. Rihab Taha, a microbiologist known as "Dr. Germ" who was in charge of the secret Iraqi facility that weaponized anthrax, botulinum toxin and aflotoxin. She is also sought by the United States, but there was no word on her whereabouts. Rashid retired last year at 65, Saddam's news agency had reported. Capturing him or his wife would be a boon for U.S. disarmament specialists, who are searching for any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in Iraq. |