US captures Saddam's 'lifelong bodyguard'
One of Saddam Hussein’s “lifelong bodyguards” was captured today, along with at least two other suspected associates, in a series of pre-dawn raids by the US Army, the US military said.
American soldiers fired two shots before storming the bodyguard’s house in Tikrit, Saddam’s home town. Minutes later, they brought the man out of the home bleeding and dressed only in his underwear and a T-shirt, US military officials said.
“We got our prime target. This man was a close associate of Saddam Hussein,” said Lt Col Steve Russell.
He declined to identify the man, saying only that he was ”one of Saddam’s lifelong bodyguards”.
The alleged bodyguard resisted inside the home and soldiers had to wrestle him down, Russell said. A medic attended to him as he sat in the back of a Humvee under close guard.
At least four others were seen being taken into custody in near simultaneous raids on other houses in the heart of Tikrit. It was not immediately clear how many men total were taken into custody.
The US Army had targeted three men in the raids and captured all of them, Russell said.
