US troops hunt for King of Clubs

One of Saddam Hussein’s most feared lieutenants is directly involved in attacks on coalition soldiers, the US army said on Monday, a da...

One of Saddam Hussein’s most feared lieutenants is directly involved in attacks on coalition soldiers, the US army said on Monday, a day after a new audio tape purportedly from Saddam vowed more attacks.

Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said American forces were hunting for Izzat Ibrahim, number six on a US list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis.

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			SPIN BOLDAK: Taliban guerrillas claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the weekend murder of a French aid worker that has prompted the UN refugee agency to withdraw staff from the south and east of Afghanistan. The attack on Sunday that killed 29-year-old UN refugee agency official Bettina Goislard mounted pressure on the international community to send peacekeeping troops to the lawless provinces. (Reuters)

Ibrahim, the King of Clubs in a deck of cards issued to US troops, is the most senior Iraqi still on the run aside from Saddam himself.

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He was considered one of the most ruthless enforcers of Saddam’s rule and one of Saddam’s most trusted confidants. His daughter was briefly married to Saddam’s elder son Uday — killed in July along with his brother Qusay when US troops stormed a safehouse in Mosul. Ibrahim is said to have held a senior post on a government committee in charge of northern Iraq when chemical weapons were used against the town of Halabja in 1988, killing thousands of Kurds.

Meanwhile, US forces used bombs, mortars and artillery to try to break guerrilla resistance all over Iraq. The US Army’s 4th Infantry Division said F-15 and F-16 jets had dropped a dozen 500-pound bombs on targets in the heaviest night of air bombardment in its sector in north-central Iraq since the official end of major combat on May 1.

In Baghdad, a rapid series of deep booms shook the city after sunset as forces from the US 1st Armored Division used tanks and planes to hammer suspected insurgent positions. (Reuters)

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