Berlin, July 23: Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden both appear to have survived US-led assaults in Iraq and Afghanistan, Germany's intelligence chief said in remarks released yesterday. ``Indications suggest that (Saddam) is still alive,'' August Hanning, the head of Germany Federal Intelligence Service was quoted as saying by a newspaper.
The US military said Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai were killed in a six-hour firefight on Tuesday. But the top US official in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said at the weekend he believed that Saddam was still alive. Hanning provided no details of any German intelligence on Saddam's whereabouts, according to a summary of an interview to appear in the Wednesday edition of a German newspaper.
The German intelligence service is reputedly well-connected in the Middle East. But Hanning was guarded about whether weapons of mass destruction would still be found in Iraq. Materials suitable for making chemical weapons imported into Iraq before the US-led war are still unaccounted for, he said. ``There were many facts that made us suspicious before the war. This suspicion remains.''
Hanning also reportedly said that bin Laden appeared to have survived the US campaign against his al-Qaida network.
He said bin Laden may be hiding along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan - an idea backed by Afghan and Pakistani officials as well. Bureau Report