According to Debka, Saddam was not in hiding – he was a prisoner!
After his last audiotaped message was delivered and aired over al Arabiya TV on Sunday November 16, on the occasion of Ramadan, Saddam was seized, possibly with the connivance of his own men, and held in that hole in Adwar for three weeks or more, which would have accounted for his appearance and condition. Meanwhile, his captors bargained for the $25 m prize the Americans promised for information leading to his capture alive or dead. The negotiations were mediated by Jalal Talabaniís Kurdish PUK militia.
These circumstances would explain the ex-ruler’s docility – described by Lt.Gen. Ricardo Sanchez as “resignation” ñ in the face of his capture by US forces. He must have regarded them as his rescuers and would have greeted them with relief.
But as the exclusive interrogation transcript reveals, this could not possibly have been the case.
