VARIOUS: IRAQIS REACT POSITIVELY TO REPORT THAT SENIOR IRAQI COMMANDER IZZAT IBRAHIM AL-DOURI MAY HAVE BEEN KILLED OR CAPTURED / U.S. DENIES REPORTS

Record ID: 483558

  • Title: VARIOUS: IRAQIS REACT POSITIVELY TO REPORT THAT SENIOR IRAQI COMMANDER IZZAT IBRAHIM AL-DOURI MAY HAVE BEEN KILLED OR CAPTURED / U.S. DENIES REPORTS
  • Date: 2nd December 2003
  • Summary: (W4) UNKNOWN LOCATION (FILE - MUTE) (REUTERS) 1. GRAPHIC OF FORMER MILITARY COMMANDER UNDER SADDAM HUSSEIN, IZZAT IBRAHIM, AS KING OF CLUBS ON DECK OF CARDS ISSUED TO AMERICAN FORCES 0.07 (W5) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (DECEMBER 2, 2003) (REUTERS) 2. WS: MEDIA CONFERENCE 0.12 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESMAN FOR IRAQI NATIONAL CONGRESS, ENT
  • Embargoed: 17th December 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: TIKRIT AND BAGHDAD, IRAQ / UNKNOWN LOCATION
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVA9P0WNWB60HY0KPMVAEXJRG58S
  • Story Text: Iraqis react positively to report that senior Iraqi commander
    may have been killed or captured, the U.S. deny
    the reports.

    The U.S. military denied reports that Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the most
    wanted man in Iraq after Saddam Hussein and alleged mastermind of guerrilla
    resistance, had been captured in a raid on Tuesday.

    Confusion surrounded the outcome of a large-scale operation by U.S. troops
    and Iraqi police near the northern city of Kirkuk, still under way after
    nightfall on Tuesday.

    Earlier, sources in Iraq's Governing Council said Ibrahim, a man with a $10
    million price on his head, had been either seized or killed in the raid. U.S.

    officials at first had no comment, but then late in the day said they were not
    holding Ibrahim.

    "He was definitely not captured in today's mission," Major Doug Vincent of
    the 173rd Airborne Brigade told reporters who accompanied troops on the raid in
    Hawija, near Kirkuk. Several other suspects were detained.

    Kirkuk police chief Torhan Abdel Rahman, speaking soon after, had however
    not given up hope.

    "The operation has been running since this morning and the possibility we
    have Izzat Ibrahim is more than 80 percent, but I can't say for sure whether he
    has been killed or captured yet," he said.

    He said U.S. forces and Iraqi police had mounted the joint sweep in Hawija
    after information from one of Ibrahim's wives, captured earlier this month,
    suggested he was in the area.

    Ibrahim's detention would be a major coup for the U.S.-led coalition,
    shaken by a relentless guerrilla campaign of bombings and ambushes.

    A veteran political ally of Saddam's, he is sixth on the U.S. list of the
    55 top Iraqi fugitives, and all those in the top five except for Saddam have
    been killed or captured.

    The U.S. military said last month he was directly involved in attacks on
    U.S. troops and put a $10 million price on his head. A reward of $25 million is
    still on offer for information leading to the capture or death of Saddam.

    The Kirkuk raid came as Spain mourned seven intelligence officers killed in
    Iraq, another U.S. soldier died in a bombing and allies agonised over whether
    the occupation was worth the cost in blood.

    A U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb near the tense town of Samarra
    on Tuesday, the 189th to die in fighting since President George W. Bush
    declared major combat over on May 1.

    November was the deadliest month for American troops since the start of the
    war that ousted Saddam, with at least 74 killed in action.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register