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U.S. officials don't seem interested in clinching a deal on Uday surrender, said a source close to negotiations
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WASHINGTON,
May 23 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Ousted Iraqi
president Saddam Hussein's eldest son Uday is mulling surrendering to
U.S. forces, but has been reluctant to do so because of a tough
negotiating posture by the Americans, a third party close to the
parleys told The Wall Street Journal Friday, May 23.
U.S.
officials in Washington had remained mum as Uday, who is hiding in a
Baghdad suburb, wants to know what charges he will be facing, and the
process for interrogation and custody, the person familiar with the
negotiations added.
He
said Uday is negotiating through intermediaries in a deal, the paper
noted, U.S. officials don't seem especially interested in clinching
because they assume he will be caught sooner or later.
Uday
was commander of Iraq's feared security force, the Saddam Fedayeen,
and also chairman of the Iraqi Olympic Committee.
He
is third on the list of 55 most-wanted Iraqi officials issued by the
U.S. Central Command, after his father and his brother Qusay.
A
December 14, 1996 assassination attempt left Uday partially paralyzed.
Saddam’s
eldest son fears Iraqi citizens will kill him if found and may instead
choose the safety of a U.S. prison, the person familiar with the
bargain said, adding that Uday frequently changes his mind about
surrendering.
Saddam
Alive
As
for Saddam, he is also alive and in a Baghdad suburban but in a
questionable mental health, the person familiar with Uday's surrender
discussions told the Journal citing information from a Saddam
relative.
The
U.S. administration has asked intermediaries for help in finding him
or negotiating a surrender, but this person knows of no progress, Dow
Jones Business News reported.
On
Wednesday, April 9, Shiite opposition sources told IslamOnlin.net that
Saddam and his top aides had
taken shelter in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit, Saddam’s
birthplace, just 48 hours after U.S. troops had poured
into Baghdad.
