Uday, Qusay may be dead

[Stravo]

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/07/ ... index.html

Official: 'Reasonably certain' Uday and Qusay dead in raid
Tuesday, July 22, 2003 Posted: 3:21 PM EDT (1921 GMT)



Uday, left, and Qusay Hussein may have been among those killed Tuesday in a firefight in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, according to Pentagon officials.

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Watch: "Target: Saddam's sons" at 7 EDT tonight.


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Shots from the aftermath of the firefight in Mosul.

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CNN's Christiane Amanpour on Uday and Qusay Hussein.

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RELATED
Gallery: Scene of the firefight in Mosul

Gallery: Saddam Hussein and sons

Interactive: Deck of former regime heads

Satellite image: Mosul, Iraq

In other news: Iraq on Tuesday


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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A U.S. official said Tuesday that the military is "reasonably certain" that Saddam Hussein's two sons have been killed in what was characterized as an intense firefight with American troops.

Uday, 39, and Qusay, 37 -- key members of Saddam's regime -- are thought to be among four people killed during a dramatic four-hour battle in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Officials haven't confirmed their deaths, but one U.S. official told CNN: "We are reasonably certain they could have met their maker."

Intelligence reports indicated Uday and Qusay, who have $15 million bounties each on their heads, were in the Mosul area, and the official added: "We didn't just stumble across them." (Map)

A special military task force formed to hunt for Saddam and his top supporters led the raid, supported by extensive armor and air cover, officials said.

Two-hundred members of the 101st Airborne Division also joined the assault, and no one was captured, a U.S. official told CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.

The military went in and engaged in a "big firefight," the official said. (Gallery: The firefight scene)

The two bodies have a "strong resemblance" to Saddam's sons, but identifying the bodies will take more than a week, a senior U.S. official said. The bodies will be flown to the United States for DNA testing at the U.S. Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, the official said.

The charred bodies were recovered in the home of a wealthy contractor after the gun battle, Miral Fahmy, a Reuters correspondent in Mosul, told CNN. One U.S. soldier was wounded, she added.

Military sources in Baghdad said the bodies were those of high-ranking allies of Saddam.

A senior Pentagon official said one of the other two bodies appeared to be that of a teenage boy. U.S. officials noted that Qusay has a teenage son. The other body recovered appeared to be that of a bodyguard.

A U.S. official said Saddam was not among them.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld briefed President Bush about the Mosul operation after it was over, a senior defense official said.

"Part of the reason he discussed this operation in particular was because he knew it would get a lot of attention, and that first reports are often wrong," the official said.

The initial White House reaction was cautious, although one official said confirmation that the two sons were killed would "brighten" spirits after recent criticism that the Bush administration exaggerated the former Iraqi regime's threat.

Both in deck of cards
Saddam and his sons have been fugitives since their government collapsed after a U.S.-led invasion in March. (Profiles: Qusay Hussein, Uday Hussein)

Mosul is a Kurd-controlled city about 110 miles (176 kilometers) from both Syria and Iran. Should the bodies prove to be Saddam's sons, intelligence officials said they are looking at the possibility that Uday and Qusay were attempting to find a way out of Iraq.

U.S. officials have said they need to capture the former ruling family to break resistance to U.S. forces and encourage cooperation by Iraqis fearful that Saddam could return to power.

Retired Army Brig. Gen. David Grange said that the deaths of Uday and Qusay would deal a psychological blow to Saddam loyalists attacking U.S. troops.

The hunt for Saddam in Iraq is led by a U.S. Special Operations team -- code-named Task Force 20 -- with support from the CIA. The task force, which also took part in the rescue of Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, includes covert special forces from the various U.S. military services. (Lynch homecoming)

Qusay and Uday are the second- and third-most wanted Iraqi leaders, and both are in the playing card deck of most-wanted Iraqis issued to U.S. troops in Iraq. Uday is the ace of hearts and Qusay the ace of clubs. (Flash interactive: Iraq's most-wanted)

Qusay has been the son widely perceived as most likely to succeed Saddam.

With Iraq preparing its defenses in the run-up to the war, Qusay was put in charge of four key areas, including Baghdad and Tikrit -- his family's tribal home.

When the war began, he was in charge of the country's intelligence network, the 80,000-strong Republican Guard and 15,000-member Special Republican Guard, which was responsible for protecting Saddam and his family.

Uday has a reputation for violence that included torturing Iraqi athletes who did not meet expectations. He ran the dreaded Saddam Fedayeen security force.

He was also in charge of the nation's Olympic committee, edited a leading newspaper, Babel, and was head of Youth TV, the country's most popular channel.

Just before the war, Uday warned that Iraqi troops would make the mothers of U.S. soldiers "weep blood instead of tears."

Correspondents Rym Brahimi, David Ensor, Jamie McIntyre, John King, Barbara Starr and Harris Whitbeck and Producers Pam Benson and Kevin Flower contributed to this report.

Confirmed by Pentagon as of now.

[Stormbringer]

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