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US claims Saddam`s sons killed in Iraq
Baghdad, July 23: Saddam Hussein`s sons Udai and Qusai were killed in a six-hour firefight on Tuesday when US forces surrounded and then stormed a palatial villa in the northern town of Mosul, a senior American General said.
Baghdad, July 23: Saddam Hussein`s sons Udai and Qusai were killed in a six-hour firefight on Tuesday when US forces surrounded and then stormed a palatial villa in the northern town of Mosul, a senior American General said.
``We are certain that Udai and Qusai were killed today,`` Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said at a news conference in Baghdad.
``They died in a fierce gunbattle,`` he said.
Sanchez said US military forces swept into action, raiding the mansion in the al-Falah neighborhood in the north of Mosul yesterday after receiving a tip from a resident in the city the previous night. He said Saddam`s sons barricaded themselves inside and put up fierce resistance. A witness said helicopters armed with missiles then attacked the house.
``The bodies were in such a condition where you could identify them,`` he said. The identities of the other two dead were not known, he said.
Sanchez was asked about heavy gunfire that erupted across Baghdad about 10 pm., believed to have been in celebration of reports that Saddam`s sons had been killed in Mosul.
The General said the gunfire may have been in celebration over the son`s death or hostile fire aimed at US occupation forces. "It`s very appropriate that they would celebrating about now,`` he said.
Ahmed al-Haboubi, who was a minister in the Iraqi government toppled by the 1968 coup by Saddam`s Ba`ath Party, said the sons met with a fitting end.
``This is the fate of every tyrant and his associates,`` he said from Cairo, where he lives in exile.
Asked whether the killing of Saddam`s sons would affect the continued attacks on American forces, Sanchez said he thought the security situation would improve.
``This will prove to the Iraqi people that these two members of the Iraqi regime will never come to power again,`` he said.
In Washington, L. Paul Bremer, Iraq`s top civilian administrator, said he did not want to comment on how the deaths of Saddam`s sons would affect security in Iraq.
However, Bremer said, ``It certainly is good news for the Iraqi people.`` Bureau Report
``They died in a fierce gunbattle,`` he said.
Sanchez said US military forces swept into action, raiding the mansion in the al-Falah neighborhood in the north of Mosul yesterday after receiving a tip from a resident in the city the previous night. He said Saddam`s sons barricaded themselves inside and put up fierce resistance. A witness said helicopters armed with missiles then attacked the house.
``The bodies were in such a condition where you could identify them,`` he said. The identities of the other two dead were not known, he said.
Sanchez was asked about heavy gunfire that erupted across Baghdad about 10 pm., believed to have been in celebration of reports that Saddam`s sons had been killed in Mosul.
The General said the gunfire may have been in celebration over the son`s death or hostile fire aimed at US occupation forces. "It`s very appropriate that they would celebrating about now,`` he said.
Ahmed al-Haboubi, who was a minister in the Iraqi government toppled by the 1968 coup by Saddam`s Ba`ath Party, said the sons met with a fitting end.
``This is the fate of every tyrant and his associates,`` he said from Cairo, where he lives in exile.
Asked whether the killing of Saddam`s sons would affect the continued attacks on American forces, Sanchez said he thought the security situation would improve.
``This will prove to the Iraqi people that these two members of the Iraqi regime will never come to power again,`` he said.
In Washington, L. Paul Bremer, Iraq`s top civilian administrator, said he did not want to comment on how the deaths of Saddam`s sons would affect security in Iraq.
However, Bremer said, ``It certainly is good news for the Iraqi people.`` Bureau Report