It's over, it's over: how Saddam told his sons the war was lost
            Jon Swain, Baghdad
            SUNDAY TIMES


            A SENIOR aide to Saddam Hussein has described the dramatic
moment when the dictator warned his sons they must accept defeat and go
their separate ways.
            "It's over. It's over," he is said to have told Uday and Qusay
Hussein as they drove through the streets of Baghdad on April 11, two days
after the city was captured by American forces. According to the aide,
Saddam's younger son, Qusay, sobbed and pleaded to be allowed to go into
hiding with his father. But Saddam replied: "Splitting up gives us a better
chance of survival."

            The graphic description came last week from one of Saddam's
closest companions, Sayf al-Din Fulayyih Hassan Taha al-Rawi, the chief of
staff of the Republican Guard.

            Hassan is No 12 on America's list of the 55 most wanted Iraqis.
The Sunday Times has established that he was hiding last week in a small
town in the desert hundreds of miles from Baghdad after faking his death and
holding a mock funeral to throw his pursuers off his track. His story was
relayed to us through reliable intermediaries.

            As the war ended, Hassan spread a rumour that he had been killed
in the attack on Baghdad airport. Only close relatives knew he was alive.

            Another passenger in Saddam's car on April 11 was Abid Hamid
Mahmud al-Tikriti, Saddam's presidential secretary and senior bodyguard -
number four on the list. The Americans captured him two weeks ago, a coup
they hope will lead them to the Iraqi leader. According to Hassan, Mahmud
also became tearful in the car but Saddam remained resolutely calm. Hassan
says he has had no contact with any of them since but he believes Saddam has
stayed on in Iraq.


            He also disclosed that Saddam, Qusay and Uday had a narrow
escape when they gathered secretly at Hassan's house in Mansour, a wealthy
residential district of Baghdad on April 7 as the war reached its climax.
Ten minutes after the meeting broke up and Saddam left, the Americans
dropped four powerful bombs onto a block of neighbours' houses. They said it
was an attempt to kill Saddam following intelligence that he was meeting
inside. The bombs made a crater 50ft deep and demolished several houses,
killing 14 people. Hassan's house was undamaged, however.

            Interrogation of Mahmud has convinced the Americans that they
have so far failed to target Saddam successfully. Donald Rumsfeld, the US
defence secretary, said after a reported airstrike on a bunker containing
Saddam on March 20, the opening night of the war: "There's no question but
that the strike on that leadership headquarters was successful. We have
photographs of what took place. The question is what was in there?" But
Colonel Tim Madere, the American officer in charge of inspecting key sites
in Baghdad, has confirmed that no trace of a bunker or bodies has been
found.

            The Americans blame Saddam loyalists for a growing resistance to
their military occupation and believe it will diminish as soon as he is
captured or killed. Thousands of special forces have been thrown into the
search and there have been several raids on sites where intelligence
indicated Saddam might be hiding, but to no avail.

            Last week Hassan said: "He has spent his life hiding from his
enemies. He is very wily, and look - they haven't yet been able to catch
even me."

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