Baghdad, Mar 21: Iraqi information minister Mohammed Sa'eed al-Sahhaf acknowledged today that one of Saddam Hussein's homes was hit in yesterday's bombing, though he said no one was hurt. "They rocketed the residence of his household," he said of Saddam. "But thank god they are all safe," he told reporters in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.
Al-Sahhaf said that the Iraqis had destroyed two coalition helicopters in fighting that began with a bombardment of the capital yesterday. He also denied that the southern Iraqi city of Umm Qasr had been taken by the US-led troops.
Standing next to him in military uniform was interior minister Mahmoud Diab al-Ahmed, carrying a Kalashnikov and wearing a flak jacket with a knife in the pocket, a pistol on his hip, and carrying Kalashnikov magazines. Sahhaf also denied that the television images of iraqis surrendering were accurate and argued that the reports were fabricated.
"Those are not iraqi soldiers at all," he said. "Where did they bring them from?"
Sahhaf also denied any US-led advance into Iraq.
Bureau Report