TIKRIT, Iraq, 18 November 2003 — They live in his palaces, they have sealed off his home village and they have thousands of soldiers hunting him down, but US forces acknowledge that toppled tyrant Saddam Hussein is more elusive than ever.
The ousted dictator still taunts his sworn enemies from his portraits that remain in a bomb-shattered army base just outside his hometown of Tikrit.
And on Sunday night another audiotape surfaced of a voice purported to be that of the ousted president warning US troops, or “the evil ones”, they were in a “dead end” in Iraq.
Some US officials believe he is not only hiding out successfully, but also may be directing the violent anti-coalition attacks that continue more than seven months after his regime collapsed.
Some even believe he had planned before the war that he would eventually wage a guerrilla-style battle against the forces occupying his country. But despite a $25-million price on his head, the trail for Saddam seems to be colder than ever. “The height of our efforts on Saddam and his closest associates was during the July time frame,” said Lt. Col. Steven Russell, who commands the 4th Infantry Division’s 1-22 battalion.
“But it slowed down after August; he has become more elusive,” he said, speaking in one of Saddam’s palaces that serve as the 4th ID’s headquarters in Tikrit, 180 kilometers north of Baghdad. Earlier this month, US troops conducted a house-to-house search of Oujah, Saddam’s natal village on the outskirts of Tikrit, registering the names of all adults who live there. Anyone entering or leaving the village must now go through a US-manned checkpoint.
In addition, thousand of troops throughout the country are on the lookout for Iraq’s most-wanted man. The coalition forces often receive tip-offs about Saddam’s whereabouts. Many turn out to be false alerts, and others seem to come just a few days too late. “The truth of the matter is that most of the information we get on Saddam is that he was here or there three or four days ago,” said Russell.
