Is Saddam's aide dead?
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's most notorious and closest aides, died Friday, Baath party reports. Ibrahim, in hiding for last two years and on U.S. military's 55 most-wanted Iraqis list, was behind Kurd massacre
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's deputy, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, has died, al-Arabiya satellite television quoted a Baath party statement as saying on Friday.
Al-Douri was the most senior member of the former regime still at large and had been a top terrorists leader. He is number six on the U.S. military's list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis, with a USD 10 million reward offered for his capture.
An al-Arabiya correspondent in Baghdad said the Baath party had sent a statement to a number of Arab and Western media by e-mail.
Senior Iraqi government officials were so far unaware of the statement but said they were checking.
The al-Arabiya correspondent quoted the Baath party statement as saying al-Douri died at 2 a.m. on Friday. The correspondent said the statement did not indicate that he had died in a military clash or had been killed.
"It can be said he died of natural causes," Arabiya's correspondent said, adding that al-Douri probably died in Iraq.
There was no confirmation from other sources and one Web site which publishes regular news releases from Baath party supporters, made no mention of the death.
Behind the massacre of 180,000 Kurds
Al-Douri was the deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council which Saddam headed. He had been widely rumored to have cancer, heart problems, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Al-Douri had spent the last two years in hiding, and attempted to find refuge with his sons, three wives and other relatives and associates at the Musul region. He used to move from one hiding place to another, accompanied by several of his sons and body guards.
Over the past year, U.S. and Iraqi forces have detained several members of al-Douri's extended family, and claimed at one point to have captured Ibrahim himself, but he remained on the run.
At the beginning of his political career, Ibrahim filled various positions in the Baath party leadership and the Iraqi government. After Saddam's ascendance to power, Ibrahim had won the leader's trust and had represented Iraq in several Arab states summits.
Over the years al-Douri was appointed several times in charge of the northern Iraq district where the Kurd population resides. In 1988 Ibrahim and General Ali Hassan al Majeed, also known as Chemical Ali, headed the massacre of 180,000 Kurds, during which scores of people were buried in mass graves and entire Kurd towns were wiped off the map.
Roee Nahmias contributed to this report
