ARBIL, 14 April 2003 — US-British forces yesterday captured Saddam Hussein’s half brother Watban near the border with Syria, Kurdish TV said.
“Watban Ibrahim Hasan, Saddam’s half-brother who served as interior minister and in other sensitive positions, was captured today by coalition forces in Rabia,” northwest of Mosul and close to the border with Syria, said KTV, which is run by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Massoud Barzani.
The wording implied that Watban, who also held a state security post in the past, had been attempting to flee to Syria.
Another half brother, Barzan Al-Tikriti, was killed Friday morning in US bombing of his farm, in the region of Ramadi west of Baghdad, a family friend.
Both Watban and Barzan, who are full brothers, figure on the list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqi leaders issued by the US Defense Department on Friday, two days after the capture of Baghdad by US forces put an end to Saddam’s 24-year rule.
