WASHINGTON, 22 June 2003 — The most important Iraqi captured by US troops yet has told his interrogators Saddam Hussein is alive along with his two sons and living in Iraq, US officials said yesterday.
The officials, who asked not to be identified, said an intense hunt was under way in Iraq for Saddam and the sons, Uday and Qusay.
However, he said that intelligence agencies were not sure if Saddam’s captured former secretary was telling the truth.
“If it was specific, we would have them,” one US official told Reuters of the information provided by Abid Hamid Mahmud Al-Tikriti, captured earlier this week in Iraq.
The officials confirmed reports in The New York Times and The Washington Post that Saddam and his sons were alive and living in Iraq.
Officials told Reuters the “information, or perhaps disinformation,” from Mahmud Tikriti had intensified the ongoing hunt for Saddam and the sons by US Special Operations troops and paramilitary intelligence agents in Iraq.
White House officials said Friday it was unclear if the former Iraqi leader was alive or dead although other officials acknowledged there was growing evidence he might be alive.
