Tikrit – A senior commander in the Iraqi national guard on Sunday insisted his officers had not captured Saddam Hussein’s deputy Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri.
“Our forces did not take part in any operation and did not capture Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri and we do not have any information concerning the subject,” said Major General Ahmed Khalaf Salman, who is commander for the central region where the capture reportedly took place.
“No division took part,” he added.
Another national guard commander in Tikrit earlier told AFP that Ibrahim had been captured in a clinic near his and Saddam’s hometown after fierce that left scores of casualties.
For his part, Doctor Nashwan Mohammed Sabar at the Tikrit General hospital said the ailing Ibrahim had not been brought there.
At the clinic in Ad Dawr, where Iraqi national guard and interior ministry officials said Duri was caught, nurses Hassan Mohammed al-Duri and Shema Kazem Alwan said: “We have never seen Izzat Ibrahim.”
Asked about the flurry of denials, interior ministry spokesperson Adnan Abdelrahman, who had previously confirmed the arrest and provided abundant details about its circumstances, said: “Call the defence ministry because these are the people who told us this story.”
However, Iraqi defence ministry officials were not answering their phones.
For its part, the US military said it did not have custody of Ibrahim, adding its troops were not involved in any such operation and no Iraqi official had informed any American of his arrest.
Apparently some Iraqi made the whole thing up.