Active Unit News

Developing Story
Saddam's Daughters Take Refuge in Jordan
Fri Aug 1, 4:03 AM ET
By NIKO PRICE, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - The flight of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s two daughters to Jordan shows Saddam's family is on the move, and the U.S. commander in Iraq (news - web sites) said the deposed dictator will be found "at some point."
Also Thursday, the Bush administration approved a $30 million payment to the informant who led U.S. troops to Saddam's sons, who were killed in a shootout.
Saddam's daughters Raghad and Rana, whose husbands were executed on the orders of Saddam in 1996 after being abroad, arrived in Jordan on Thursday with their nine children.
Jordanian Information Minister Nabil al-Sharif told The Associated Press King Abdullah II has decided to offer them refuge.
"They are Arab women who have run out of all options," al-Sharif said.
The whereabouts of Saddam's wife, Sajida Khairallah Telfah, and his youngest daughter, Hala, were unknown.
The U.S. military commander for Iraq said he had nothing significant to report about the hunt for Iraq's most wanted man despite more than 280 raids across Iraq over the past week,
"We remain focused on him and we will find him at some point," said Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez.
But some U.S. officers said the daughters' flight to Jordan was another sign that intensified sweeps are squeezing Saddam and other members of the defeated regime.
"It would seem to confirm that his family is on the move, along with his closest associates," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, who commands Army troops patrolling Saddam's hometown of Tikrit. "It's good news. Even if it's estranged or extended family, it shows they're on the move."
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) decided that the informant whose tip led to the deaths of Odai and Qusai Hussein should get both of the $15 million rewards that had been put on the men's heads. The two died in a firefight July 22 in a villa in Mosul in northern Iraq.
"It's actually for services rendered," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "It's a lump sum payment of $30 million."
For his protection, the informant has not been identified, although people in Mosul have speculated it was the owner the house being used as a hideout.
In the hunt for the former leader, the Army has generated images of what Saddam could look like after three months on the run, although it did not release the pictures.
"Soldiers have been provided with examples of what he might look like," said Lt. Col. Ted Martin, operations officer for the 4th Infantry Division. "Maybe he looks exactly like he did. We explore every possibility."
In continuing attacks by insurgents, two more U.S. soldiers were killed Thursday, bringing to 51 the number of Americans to die in combat since May 1, when President Bush (news - web sites) declared major combat over.
One soldier was killed and three were wounded when an armored personnel carrier ran over a mine in Baghdad on Thursday, and a soldier died from small-arms fire northeast of the city late Wednesday.
The deaths brought to 166 the number of combat deaths since the invasion began — 19 more than were killed in the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites).
U.S. commanders blamed the attacks on Saddam loyalists and on foreign terrorists who have come to Iraq to use sophisticated bombing techniques to attack their American enemy.
"We're fighting a low-intensity conflict that is multifaceted," Sanchez said. "It includes criminals. It includes former regime loyalists. It includes Saddam Fedayeen (militia). And some radical extremists that are operating against us."

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