Saddam providing clues

By Carol J. Williams and Esther Schrader
Los Angeles Times

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Jailed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has been cooperating with U.S. military interrogators, providing intelligence that has led to the arrests of several high-ranking officials of his former regime and confirming details of guerrilla cells operating in Baghdad, U.S. officials said yesterday.

For the second day in a row, Iraqis celebrate the capture of Saddam Hussein. Saddam already has provided information that has led to the arrest of several former top regime figures, as well as details about guerrilla cells in Baghdad.

President Bush said yesterday that deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will be put on public trial for his crimes.

An Iraqi Shiite Muslim celebrating the capture of Saddam Hussein by U.S. forces holds high a portrait of religious leader Muhammed Hakim al-Bakir, who was assassinated in August. Associated Press

As Iraqis struggled with the realization that the brutal dictator was in U.S. custody, many Iraqis, including officials appointed by the U.S. administration, insisted that the deposed leader be turned over to them so they can begin preparations to put him on trial. Many saw Saddam's capture as an indication that the U.S.-led occupation might end soon.

"Now that Saddam is out of the picture, we have a better chance of getting Iraq on its own feet and the Americans will be leaving sooner rather than later," said Saber Fareed, a 29-year-old Islamic law student.

The American military said the intelligence supplied by Saddam was the major breakthrough yesterday, one that gave them hope they could start eliminating secret cells whose guerrilla tactics have impeded restoring basic goods, services and safety to Iraq.

Suicide bombings of two Baghdad-area police stations in which 10 people were killed and at least 22 others injured are reminders that the battle to root out guerrillas is far from over.

Because interrogators have had less than 24 hours to question the deposed Iraqi leader, they are only beginning to convert clues gleaned from Saddam into military operations aimed at eliminating insurgent cells, said Capt. Aaron Hatok, a spokesman for the 1st Armored Division, which is responsible for American troops in Baghdad.

The circumstances in which Saddam was discovered, in a dirt hole with no means of communication, raised doubts about the extent to which he might have been directing insurgent attacks on U.S. troops.

But Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling, commander of the 1st Armored Division, said he believed Saddam was in some way coordinating those cells.

The general, in an e-mail exchange with a Washington, D.C.-based Los Angeles Times reporter, said the information gleaned from Saddam and documents he had with him confirmed many of the theories American intelligence analysts had already been pursuing.

Hertling said the U.S. troops will use the newly gathered intelligence "to further connect the dots of cells that operate in Baghdad." He said the next phase will be working with the Iraqi police to hunt down car-theft rings — a further step in restoring security to the Iraqi capital.

Investigators also said they were trying to determine whether Saddam was linked to a money trail funding insurgents. The key informant who turned in the deposed dictator has been connected to the seizure of $1.9 million in Samarra last week — money possibly used to finance the underground fighters, officials said.

While the initial haul of information has encouraged interrogators, persistent attacks on the U.S.-led forces yesterday reinforced that those attacking American troops are a diverse group with varying agendas.

"We hope this intelligence will lead to the breakup or at least disruption of a significant number of these cells," Hatok said. He described the insurgents in Baghdad as "very complex," with factions other than those loyal to Saddam.

"That is only one component," Hatok said. "We're also seeing foreign fighters and religious extremists and some of these are not necessarily fighting for Saddam Hussein but they are fighting the coalition."

Hatok said investigators have yet to establish any link with al-Qaida, the terrorist network run by the United States' most-wanted fugitive, Osama bin Laden.

While U.S. military investigators have been pleased with the first fruits of their Saddam interrogations, Iraqi officials are concentrating on his handover for trial. They want Saddam transferred from U.S. custody to an Iraqi jail as soon as feasible so they can begin preparations to put him on trial at a special tribunal newly created to prosecute war crimes.

At the White House, President Bush expressed skepticism that Saddam could be trusted to supply truthful information about guerrilla cells or so-called weapons of mass destruction.

The Bush administration was forced to rebut criticism yesterday that it had violated the Geneva Conventions by parading Saddam before the cameras after his capture.

The convention says prisoners should not be humiliated by displaying them to satisfy public curiosity. Some commentators in Europe have criticized the videotape that shows Saddam being examined for lice and health problems by a military doctor.

But an official said that the videotape was intended to reassure Iraqis that the dictator was in captivity, and was a justifiable step to improve security in the country.

U.S. officials say they would need several weeks to try to elicit intelligence from Saddam on the whereabouts of other Baath Party fugitives, his role in orchestrating insurgent attacks on the coalition and the location of any weapons of mass destruction.

It is not yet known what charges Saddam would face. Noor Al-Din said the death penalty would be sought against Saddam because of the scope of his abuses. New York-based Human Rights Watch estimates that Saddam is responsible for the deaths of 250,000 Iraqis, including 100,000 Kurdish men and boys machine-gunned to death in the 1988 Anfal genocide.

Williams reported from Baghdad and Schrader from Washington. Also contributing were Times staff writers Patrick McDonnell in Baghdad, Paul Richter in Washington and Maggie Farley at the United Nations.