- Title: IRAQ: FORMER IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT TAHA YASSIN RAMADAN CAPTURED IN MOSUL
- Date: 19th August 2003
- Summary: (EU) MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 19, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. WIDE OF EXTERIOR OF HOUSE WHERE FORMER IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT TAHA YASSIN RAMADAN WAS CAPTURED 2. SLV EXTERIOR OF HOUSE, WITH MEDIA WALKING INSIDE 0.12 3. SCU KURDISH OFFICIAL SAYING THAT FORMER VICE PRESIDENT RAMADAN WAS CAPTURED LAST NIGHT BY PEOPLE FROM THE KURDISH PARTY. 0.34 4. VARIOUS OF EXTERIOR OF HOUSE WHERE RAMADAN WAS CAPTURED (2 SHOTS) 0.42 (W6) MOSUL, IRAQ (AUGUST 19, 2003) (REUTERS) 5. SMV INTERIOR OF HOUSE WITH EMPTY CUPBOARD 0.46 6. SLV WALL OF HOUSE 0.50 7. VARIOUS OF INTERIORS OF HOUSE (2 SHOTS) 0.59 8. WIDE/ PAN EXTERIOR OF HOUSE 1.10 9. WIDE / PAN FROM STREET TO HOUSE 1.19 (U4) NO LOCATION (FILE) (REUTERS) 10. STILL OF 10 OF DIAMOND PLAYING CARD ISSUED BY THE UNITED STATES SHOWING THE FACE OF RAMADAN FROM THE FBI'S 'MOST WANTED' LIST OF 55 PEOPLE FROM HUSSEIN'S ADMINISTRATION 1.33 (U4) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (FILE - JANUARY 21, 2003) (REUTERS) 11. VARIOUS OF FORMER IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT TAHA YASSIN RAMADAN AT TEACHERS' MEETING (2 SHOTS) 1.43 12. SCU RAMADAN 1.47 13. WIDE OF MEETING 1.51 14. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RAMADAN ADDRESSING THE CROWD TALKING ABOUT RESOLUTION 1441 SAYING: ".... we know well the virulent American Zionist intentions" 2.09 (EU) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AUGUST 19, 2003) (REUTERS) 15. WIDE OF A MAIN STREET IN CENTRAL BAGHDAD 2.16 16. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) THAMIR SAYING: "We are pleased, we hope that they would arrest all of them. All of them are criminals, we want them be punished in front of our eyes not to give them asylum in other states." 2.26 17. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LUAI TURKI SAYING: "We pay no attention, whether they arrest them or not, the former government members are no longer having any role. Even they let them in streets, Iraqis either will kill them or leave them. They (U.S. forces) are leaving criminals do whatever they want. They (U.S troops) shouldn't pay attention to hardships facing us in Baghdad, no water, no power." 2.54 18. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOHAMMED SABTI SAYING: "I am very pleased and I share Iraqis with this good news (the arrest of Ramadan). 3.00 19. SKV BAGHDAD STREET WITH BUS 3.04 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 3rd September 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: MOSUL AND BAGHDAD, IRAQ / NO LOCATION
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA6QHDZXWKHTT86A1HLN0SGY75J
- Story Text: Saddam Hussein's former vice president, Taha
Yassin Ramadan has been captured in the northern Iraqi city of
Mosul.
Saddam Hussein's vice president, Taha Yassin
Ramadan, has been captured in Mosul, the Iraqi city where
the fugitive dictator's sons were cornered and killed last
month, U.S. and Kurdish officials said on Tuesday
(August 19).
The seizure by Kurdish forces of such a high-profile
member of Saddam's inner circle will fuel speculation that
U.S. forces are still hot on the trail of the ousted Iraqi
leader himself.
In Washington, a Pentagon spokeswoman confirmed that
Ramadan had been captured and handed over to U.S.-led
forces, who invaded Iraq in March and toppled Saddam.
Ramadan, a ruthless and long-serving lieutenant who
once suggested U.S. President George W. Bush fight a duel
with Saddam, may have been betrayed by an informant in
Mosul -- like Saddam's sons Uday and Qusay -- or captured
after a tip-off.
A Kurdish official, speaking at the scene of the arrest,
told reporters that the former vice president had been
captured during the night by Kurds.
A spokesman for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)
told Reuters in Baghdad that Ramadan was detained in Mosul
as a result of cooperation between the political parties
and residents. Another PUK spokesman said he was captured
overnight.
The PUK is one of two main Kurdish parties in northern
Iraq which fought alongside U.S. forces in the war after
running their own affairs, under U.S. air cover and free of
Saddam's rule since Baghdad's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War.
As vice president, Ramadan launched suicide bombers
against American forces during the invasion that toppled
the regime. He was No. 20 on the U.S. list of the 55 most
wanted Iraqis and the 10 of diamonds in a deck of cards
issued to U.S. troops.
Mosul, with its rich mixture of Kurds and Arabs,
Muslims and Christians, lies 170 km (110 miles) north of
Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, where U.S. troops have been
hunting intensively for the former Iraqi leader, the "Ace
of Spades". In his 60s, Ramadan was one of the most
hawkish members of Saddam's inner circle and one of the
only surviving plotters of the 1968 coup that brought the
Baath Party to power.
A man of blunt words, he told Saudi Arabia's foreign
minister to "go to hell" during the U.S. invasion when the
minister suggested that Saddam should step down.
Ramadan is widely accused of crimes against humanity for
his role in suppressing Kurdish rebellion in the
mountainous north in the 1980s and against the Shi'ite
revolt in southern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War.
Residents of Baghdad expressed pleasure for the arrest
of former Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan.
"We are pleased, we hope that they would arrest all of
them. All of them are criminals, we want them be punished
in front of our eyes not to give them asylum in other
states," said Thamir.
Mohammed Sabti said: "I am very pleased and I share
Iraqis with this good news (the arrest of Ramadan).
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