LOC00:24
21:24 GMT
BAGHDAD, April 23 (KUNA) -- The US army has no operational reports on the
arrest of former Iraqi vice-president Ezzat al-Douri, US army media advisor
Abdellatif al-Rayan said here Wednesday.
Speaking to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), al-Rayan said the arrest report was
now under investigation.
Earlier in the day, Hassan al-Sanid, an Iraqi member of parliament, said US
forces had handed over a captured suspect to Iraqi forces, who was believed to
be al-Douri due to resemblance.
The suspect is now undergoing DNA tests in a bid to make sure if he is
really the former Iraqi official, he told KUNA.
Iraqi security sources had told KUNA that joint US and Iraqi forces had
picked up Ezzat al-Douri in a snatch manhunt.
Al-Douri was Vice-Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) and
Northern Region Commander. He also served as Deputy Secretary General of the
Baath Party Regional Command and Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces. After
the 1991 Gulf War, he was frequently sent abroad to represent Iraqi interests.
He vanished following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, with the US
having announced a bounty of 10 million US dollars on his head.
On 5 September 2003 it was reported that Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri had been
captured in the town of Tikrit. However, within hours, the US-led coalition
denied they had him in custody. (end)
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