SADDAM HUSSEIN CAPTURE SERIES

Yesterday at least eight US soldiers were wounded in three separate attacks.

Iraqi citizens working to help the reconstruction effort have also been targeted. Sabotage attacks have become increasingly sophisticated, targeting key parts of the infrastructure such as oil pipelines and the power grid. A total of 25 US and British soldiers had been killed in hostile action and 177 wounded, he told a news conference in Baghdad. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, who commands US forces in Iraq, said yesterday there had been an average of 13 attacks a day on coalition forces in the last 45 days. 'I have no doubt that determining the fate of Saddam Hussein would help us in our reconstruction efforts in Iraq, not least since he was responsible for so much of the damage inflicted on this country,' Mr Bremer said in his address. US officials have regularly blamed former Saddam loyalists and remnants of the old regime for using the uncertainty over the former dictator's fate to intimidate Iraqis and destabilise the country. The number of places Saddam has to hide are decreasing by the day.' 'Somebody out there knows something, and I think they will come forward. They want to be on the right side of history. 'But as each day passes, more and more Iraqis are realising that he's not coming back. 'In the immediate aftermath of the conflict, Iraqis were nervous,' he said.

SADDAM HUSSEIN CAPTURE SERIES

There has been a series of increasingly audacious attacks on US and British forces in Iraq, but a senior official in the coalition provisional authority denied that the bounty was an act of political desperation. Mr Mahmoud was reported to have told US investigators that Saddam and his sons survived, and that he was in hiding north of Baghdad.

The search for Saddam and his two sons, who have not been seen since Baghdad fell on April 9, was said to have moved up a gear after the arrest of his secretary, national security adviser and senior bodyguard, Abid Hamid Mahmoud al-Tikriti, three weeks ago. During the war, US forces ordered a number of air strikes against him, but their effectiveness remains in doubt. The last reported sighting of Saddam alive was in the final days of the war, in the Azamiyah area of north-eastern Baghdad. A similar bounty has already been offered for the capture of Osama bin Laden.Ī coalition official stressed that the ransom would come from US rather than Iraqi coffers. It is the first time that a price has been put on Saddam's head. He urged Iraqis with relevant information to give it to 'any coalition official, civilian or military.' 'They may or may not still be alive, but I recognise that until we know for sure, their names will continue to cast a shadow of fear over this country,' he said. In a prepared statement, Mr Bremer said that Saddam and his sons were 'among the most evil men the world has known.' Paul Bremer, the chief administrator in Iraq, announced the reward on the US-funded Iraqi Media Network radio.

Saddam hussein capture