Saddam's wife helped locate him

[Tinoire]

Saddam's wife helped locate him
December 15, 2003 - 2:32AM

Well-informed Lebanese sources said today that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's second wife supplied the US with "some information" about where her husband was hiding in Iraq.

Samira Shahbandar, who lives with the ousted Iraqi leader's only surviving son Ali, "is believed to have given the Americans and their allies some information about the area where Saddam was hiding in," the sources said.

Saddam was captured based on information from a member of a family "close to him", Major General Raymond Odierno said.

Odierno, the commander of the 4th Infantry Division that captured Saddam, said that over the last 10 days soldiers had questioned "five to 10 members" of families "close to Saddam".

"Finally we got the ultimate information from one of these individuals," he said.

<snip>

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/15/1071336830886.html

[Tuttle]

1. So she gets Bruce Willis' bounty?

and she's single?

I smell a Fox reality series...

Tut-tut

[JohnKleeb]

18. Lady Hussein they could call it

I am sure Rupert will think of a show :D.

[cally]

2. Interesting

I wonder what she was promised. I think I saw in another article that she has about $6 million and wants to live in Paris.

[Tinoire]

4. That and also I wonder what threats were made

Do you mean this story yesterday? I found it so bizarre but never did I think today's news would be this! I wonder what her last conversations with him were and what information she relayed to him.

Saddam rings his wife once a week

Saddam Hussein's second wife, who lives with the ousted Iraqi leader's only surviving son under an assumed name in Lebanon, said her husband calls or writes to them at least once a week, a London newspaper reported today.

"If he cannot say something in detail on the telephone, I know I will receive a letter in two to three days giving me an explanation," Samira Shahbandar told The Sunday Times in an interview.

After the Iraq war in March, Shahbandar - described by the paper as mysterious and the closest of Saddam's four wives - said she crossed the border into Syria, then travelled to Beirut where she was given a Lebanese passport.

Now living under the name of Hadija, she said she expected to move to Paris next month.

She said Saddam, ousted as Iraq's president following the US-led war on Iraq in March, had given her $US5 million ($A6.78 million) in cash and a hoard of jewellery and gold before sending her and his 21-year-old son, Ali, over the border into Syria.

Posted at DU yesterday by Rooboy: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=268385#268393

[cally]

7. That's the story...thanks

I read that story and thought Lebanon must be protecting her and I wondered why. I was very wrong. Thanks for the link.

[aquart]

19. Maybe she's afraid for her son.

Americans killed the two older Saddam sons. AND Saddam's 14 year old grandson. Her boy is 21 and all she's got? How does she keep him alive?

[Maple]

3. And did he have a phone with him?

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/12/14/1071336803092.html

Envelopes, stamps?

[Tinoire]

5. Ah... CNN is saying the capture actually took place last night Iraq time

and Bush knew yesterday at 3:15 PM. Rumsfeld called him to break the news.

[Tinoire]

17. Have to add Maple

"And did he have a phone with him?" Envelopes, stamps?

Too funny...


I wonder how long it will take for them to find that phone in an 8 x 6 cave :shrug: Maybe the WMDs are in there too! :)

[pinto]

6. does anyone think, given the importance (pro and con) of family ties,

in Iraqi culture that Hussein's wife, if she was in regular contact with Saddam, realized the jig was up, looked to the future of her son? Perhaps Saddam looked to the future of his last living son? Or maybe she wanted the reward money, cut and dried?...I find the possibilities understandable.

[Character Assassin]

8. I wonder if Saddamn quoted Marion Barry when he found out.

"Bitch set me up!"

[FreakinDJ]

9. Makes me wonder

How Saddam could correspond that much with her and it would take us that long to find him. I mean we trianglated cell phone calls with Osuma Bin Ladin. Our FBI could tell which Camel's dung carried the letter to the post office.

YOU MEAN TO TELL ME HE CORRESPONDED WITH 1 OR 2 TIMES A WEEK AND IT TOOK THIS LONG TO CAPTURE HIM

sorry folks the tin foil fell off

[lebkuchen]

10. Thank you.

Now we don't have to hear about Michael Jackson ad infinitum.

[Eric J in MN]

11. Are they currently married? How many times has Saddam married? (nt)

nt

[pinto]

12. he's had a few wives, I think, this one is reportedly his fave....n/t

[tabasco]

13. Guys, when they tell you to take out the trash ...

ya' better listen.

[loudnclear]

14. i think anything you hear about how Saddam was captured is a cover

for the real story. This simply is not how an event like this happens.
We are being misled agina (not that it matters to any of us) but it is to protect the real sources and methods of Saddam's capture...and that's ok.

[Tinoire]

21. Apologies- post 20 was a response to you n/t

[Eloriel]

15. LOL -- I can't help but be reminded of

a line from Thelma & Louise which I watched again last night. (One of my all-yi,e favorite movies.)

On the lam with Thelma, Louise is in the process of forcing a highway patrolman into the trunk of his car. He begs for mercy because he has a wife and kids. Louise tells him to "be sweet" to them, "especially your wife. My husband wasn't sweet to me, and look how I turned out."

[UpInArms]

16. I guess she had the jewelry and gold appraised

and it didn't compare with the $25 Million bounty from the US

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/07/03/sprj.irq.main/

Thursday, July 3, 2003 Posted: 6:54 PM EDT (2254 GMT)

U.S. officials offered $25 million

(CNN) -- The United States is offering a $25 million reward for information that either leads to the capture of Saddam Hussein or confirms that the former Iraqi leader is dead, U.S. officials announced Thursday.

...more...

[Tinoire]

20. Personally, I prefer Devka's version:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=269401

It makes a lot more sense than this self-serving propaganda for an "enchanted" Sunday.

Notice how the printed articles say this happened Sunday but now CNN is admitting he was captured Saturday... Devka seems way ahead of them all IMO.

[bobthedrummer]

22. It's possible as anything else

n/t