Saddam's half-brother captured by coalition troops: 'Kurdish TV'<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Arbil, Iraq\/Washington<\/p>\n
Coalition forces on Sunday captured Saddam Hussein's half-brother
\nWatban as he attempted to cross the border into Syria, Kurdish TV
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Watban Ibrahim Hasan, Saddam's half-brother who served as
\ninterior minister and in other sensitive positions, was captured
\ntoday by coalition forces in Rabia,\" northwest of Mosul, said
\nKTV, which is run by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of
\nMassoud Barzani.<\/p>\n
Another half-brother, Barzan al-Takriti, was killed last
\nFriday morning in U.S. bombing of his farm, in the region of
\nRamadi, west of Baghdad, a family friend told AFP.<\/p>\n
In Washington, meanwhile, the commander of U.S. operations in
\nIraq said on Sunday that U.S. authorities have samples of
\nSaddam's DNA.<\/p>\n
If the Iraqi dictator is still alive, he is under pressure,
\nGen. Tommy Franks told CNN in an interview.<\/p>\n
\"He's either dead or running a lot,\" Franks said. When asked
\nwhat his own belief was, he answered: \"My boss doesn't permit me
\nto have hunches.\"<\/p>\n
\"He'll simply be alive until I can confirm he's dead,\" Franks
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, of course,\" Franks replied when asked if the
\nUnited States had samples of Saddam's DNA. Franks did not state
\nhow the sample had been obtained.<\/p>\n
He said U.S. experts were intent on taking samples to check if
\nSaddam or his family members were among the Iraqi dead.<\/p>\n
\"The appropriate people with the appropriate forensics are
\ndoing the appropriate checks,\" Franks said.<\/p>\n
Franks said he believed it would be possible to identify
\nSaddam, \"unless remains were removed\" at the site of recent heavy
\nbombings in a residential area where Saddam and his top officials
\nwere believed to be.<\/p>\n
Separately, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ruled out
\non Sunday a future comeback in Iraq by either Saddam or his
\nfollowers, saying \"that regime is history, forever.\"<\/p>\n
Rumsfeld was asked in an interview with NBC how important it
\nwas to account for Saddam's fate to dispel fears that he or his
\nfollowers were biding their time, plotting a return to power.<\/p>\n
\"We know he's not running that country. He was and he isn't.
\nSo that's an enormous accomplishment,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"That regime is history for ever,\" he said, adding, \"That's
\nsuch a long time.\"<\/p>",
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