The Financial Times April 10, 2003
US blocks routes in hunt for ex-leaders
By Richard McGregor and James Drummond
US commanders say they have intensified their operations near the Syrian border, once a resupply channel for the Iraqi military but now a potential escape route for fleeing regime leaders and military officers.
The failure of the US to either find or confirm the death of top leaders, including Saddam Hussein, has heightened concerns about regime officials seeking refuge abroad.
Major-General Gene Renuart, the director of operations in Iraq, on Thursday pinpointed Qaim as a transit point on what he described as the shortest route west out of the country. Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, also said in his Pentagon briefing on Wednesday that he had seen "scraps of intelligence saying that Syria is being co-operative in moving people out of Iraq and into Syria".
Washington's "most wanted" list is headed by Mr Hussein and his two sons, Uday and Qusay. It probably also includes such public figures as Tariq Aziz and Taha Yassin Ramadan, deputy prime ministers, as well as Izzat Ibrahim, Mr Hussein's most visible vice-president.
All three are accused of complicity in Mr Hussein's 1990 occupation of Kuwait, and his brutal repression of the Kurdish and Shia populations. Indict, the opposition-backed committee seeking to prosecute the Iraqi leadership for war crimes, also accuses Mr Ibrahim of the use of excessive military force against the marsh Arabs of southern Iraq.
Ali Hassan al-Majid, Mr Hussein's cousin known as "Chemical" Ali, is thought to have perished in the British attack on Basra. But there are other figures in Mr Hussein's inner circle who would have every interest in leaving the country as US and allied forces consolidate their hold.
They include Abdel Hamid al-Tikriti, a distant cousin of Mr Hussein, who may even have been his second in command, according to Jane's Intelligence Review. Little is known about him but he is thought to have overseen the secretariat responsible for the Iraqi leader's personal security.
Mohamad Hamza al- Zubaidi is the former head of the northern bureau of the ruling Ba'ath party, a former prime minister and former deputy prime minister. Global Security.org, the international security website, says he was involved in suppressing the Shia uprising at the end of the 1991 Gulf war. He was, however, removed as deputy prime minister and member of the Ba'ath party regional command in 2001.
Another official on the most wanted list is Aziz Saleh al-Noman, the former governor of Kuwait during the short-lived Iraqi occupation, accused of ordering a wave of looting and torture. He is also accused of involvement in the subsequent campaign of destruction in the Shia holy cities of Karbala and Najaf.
Syria aside, the exit routes available to such senior regime members are limited. Iraq has fought wars with Iran and Kuwait, been attacked from US bases in Saudi Arabia and lost control of the north to the Kurds. "It would surprise me if Saddam went to Iran - I don't think he would get a very hearty welcome there," said Maj-Gen Renuart.
Baghdad also lost control of the main route leading to Jordan early in this conflict. Australian Special Air Services soldiers have been manning a checkpoint for nearly two weeks on the road to the Jordan border.
Maj-Gen Renuart added that US special forces had engaged the Iraqi military in and around Qaim, 240 miles (380 km) north-west of Baghdad, and near the Syrian border.
Copyright © 2003, The Financial Times Ltd
