‘Saddam moving every few hours’

Saddam Hussein is eluding US forces by moving every few hours, probably in disguise and aided by members of his clan, the general hunting the fugitive dictator around Tikrit said on Thursday.

Major General Ray Odierno, commander of US 4th Infantry Division, said he could not be certain how close his troops had come to capturing Saddam or that he was definitely in the area. But he had regular intelligence that he was. ‘‘He’s on the run. He’s moving every three to four hours,’’ Odierno said. ‘‘Every day we get four or five reports that he could be anywhere from Kirkuk to Baquba to Tikrit.’’ Citing intelligence, Odierno said: ‘‘He is moving three to four times every day… On some raids we’ve done there are indications that somebody’s been moving there. And somebody extremely important.’’

Asked how Saddam was eluding the US troops seeking him, he said he imagined the support network was similar to those exposed after the the killing of Uday and Qusay in Mosul last month.

Story continues below this ad

‘‘There’s family support and there’s loyalists that are around him that probably enable to move around the area.’’

‘‘I think he understands that if you travel around with a big entourage, fancy cars, that’s kind of obvious,’’ he said. ‘‘So my guess is he’s in disguise some way, he’s moving in unassuming clothes and vehicles.’’

‘‘I don’t think he is ordering any attacks on our soldiers. I don’t think he has the capability to command and control,’’ said General Odierno. (Reuters)