Tour of tyrant's hideout revealing
| • | Hawai'i-based troops buzzing over capture |
| • | Saddam providing clues |
| • | Saddam confidant points way to most wanted man in Iraq |
By Ariana Eunjung Cha
Washington Post
DAWR, Iraq — In the small hut near the hole where former President Saddam Hussein spent his final hours of freedom, a dozen books were piled on top of a chest near the bed. There was a book on interpreting dreams, volumes of classical Arabic poetry titled "Discipline" and "Sin," and Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment."
Associated Press
Other books were tossed into boxes with what appeared to be Saddam's clothes. The structure was viewed by reporters yesterday, two days after Saddam was captured. It was cluttered and dirty.
The bedroom in Saddam Hussein's hideout was unkempt. Few signs of luxury were found in the structure on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq, the deposed leader's hometown.
Iraq's deposed leader was discovered hiding in a "spider hole" on this farm, a few miles from the grand palaces in which he used to reside.
A U.S. soldier climbs out of the "spider hole" used by Saddam Hussein.
Saddam apparently slept in the 8-by-14-foot hut, which was crammed with two rusty beds piled with thick, fuzzy blankets in clashing colors. A U.S. military source speculated that Saddam had been living there for about seven days.
Personal care products sat atop a mini-refrigerator: a cake of Palmolive Naturals soap, a bottle of Dove moisturizing shampoo, a pot of moisturizing cream and a stick of Lacoste deodorant "pour homme." Saddam wasn't starving. The kitchen held a bounty of food: brown eggs, cucumbers, carrots, apples, kiwis and flatbread, plus orange marmalade, canned meat, a jar of honey and Lipton tea.
The bunker also contained signs of a man not used to roughing it: two cans of Raid, a fly swatter and antibiotics.
The only hints of luxury were a gilded face mirror, a garlic press, sweets — pistachio baklava, candied figs — and the books.
"I expected it to be neater at least," grumbled Army Spec. Roy Yoo, a 22-year-old from Hawai'i, who serves in the 4th Infantry Division and was among those at the scene yesterday.
Slapped together from clay, wood and concrete blocks, the small structure was indistinguishable from the thousands of farmhouses around it. A fence of tree branches encircled the complex; black-spotted cows and skinny chickens dallied outside a plain metal gate.
The doors opened to a courtyard where towels, clothing, dates and salami hung on wires. Thatched straw sheets lined the inner walls. Plastic lawn chairs and a bed frame served as tables. To the left was the living quarters; above the bedroom door was an inscription in gray Arabic script: "God the merciful, God the compassionate."
Next to that, a makeshift kitchen was covered on one side with a blinding yellow sheet; behind it was a small pit toilet. Directly across from the gate, a wooded path led to the bank of the Tigris River. Two children's bicycles lay crumpled next to a chicken coop.
The compound was a far cry from the silk-and-feather excess of the presidential palace that Saddam fled when U.S. troops took Baghdad this spring — but it was clear someone had gone to great trouble to ensure that the ousted leader had all the basics. The house had running water pumped in from the river; electricity from a generator powered fluorescent lights.
On top of the dresser, a silver picture frame sat with the factory-printed photo still inside — a brown-haired man embracing a pretty blonde. On the bookshelf were half-eaten bags of walnuts and pistachios. On the floor was a giant unopened box of detergent, a yellow trash can, dirty laundry, empty plastic bags, a half-dozen pairs of shoes and a Styrofoam container with three pairs of white boxer shorts and two white sleeveless undershirts still in plastic wrapping.
"It is amazing to see how a powerful guy like him could wind up in a place like this," said Sgt. 1st Class Chris Wallace of the 4th Infantry Division's 442nd Field Artillery Unit, who was guarding the house yesterday.
"Nothing fancy, no valuables. Only thing that denotes class really are the pastries," said Capt. Joe Munger of the 4th Infantry Division, whose team provided perimeter security during the raid that captured the former dictator.
Saddam's earthen hideout, six feet underground, was so narrow that he probably could not have bent his knees while inside it. The T-shaped hole was barely large enough for a man his size to lie down. At one end, where he apparently laid his head, there was a pipe for ventilation and a tiny plastic fan. On the other side, there was a fluorescent bulb. The walls were cement and brick. The floor was dirt.
Getting inside probably required some tricky maneuvering. The opening was so narrow that if Saddam had not entered with his feet first and back to the trees, he would have gotten stuck. Once he lowered himself in, he most likely had to wiggle his legs into the inner chamber.
The hideaway was covered with a Styrofoam block, rubber mat and flower pots in an attempt to disguise that the land had been disturbed.
When U.S. Special Forces troops uncovered the hole on Saturday night, military officials said, Saddam quickly emerged and called out: "I am Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq, and I am willing to negotiate."
"President Bush sends his regards," one of the soldiers replied.
Saddam had been clutching a loaded pistol but did not attempt to fire it. After he was taken away, U.S. soldiers spent hours checking the hut for other weapons, explosives or booby traps but did not find anything, a military official said.
In the back, the hut opened up to a garden with oranges, dates and pomegranates. The path leading to the river approached a point very close to the one where Saddam had begun a swim 44 years ago as he was fleeing the country after an attempt on his life.
Three canoes were strewn haphazardly along the path; military officials suspect they may have been used to ferry in supplies — or to aid in a plan for a quick escape.
