Saddam number two reported dead
| Not quite a confirmation, as it relies on the same source as yesterday's BBC story... |
 Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the fugitive former deputy of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, has died, according to a statement from the dissolved Baath party. An e-mail sent to a Western news agency and signed by the Arab Socialist Baath Party - Iraq Command, said al-Douri died at 2.30am on Friday but gave no indication of the cause. "The leader of the resistance died on Friday 11 November at 2.20am," according to the statement signed by the Baath command.
| Sobbing with pain, then shrieking with horror as he was carried off by demons... |
There was a $10 million US bounty outstanding on al-Duri, who was said to be gravely ill with leukemia. He was erroneously reported to have been captured in September 2004. He was the most senior former Iraqi leader still at large since Saddam was captured in December 2003 from a hole in the ground on a farm. Arab satellite television stations broadcast the report based on the e-mail but said they had no independent confirmation. US and Iraqi officials in Iraq also said they were aware of the report but could not verify it. Abdul-Rahman Mohammed Ibrahim, nephew and son-in-law of al-Douri, said he had heard the report on an Arab satellite television station but had no independent confirmation. "We don't have such news," he said. "I cannot deny or confirm the report." |