Saddam "moving every few hours" - U.S. general

By Alastair Macdonald

TIKRIT, Iraq, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein is eluding U.S. forces by moving
every few hours, probably in disguise and aided by members of his clan, the
general hunting the fugitive dictator around his home town of Tikrit said on
Thursday.

Major General Ray Odierno, commander of the U.S. 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 told a news
conference at his headquarters in one of the grand marble halls of Saddam's
main palace in Tikrit.

"Every day we get four or five reports that he could be anywhere from Kirkuk to
Baquba to Tikrit."

Citing intelligence data Odierno said: "He is clearly moving three to four
times every single day... On some of the raids we've done there are indications
that somebody's been moving through there. And somebody extremely important."

Asked how Saddam was eluding the tens of thousands of U.S. troops seeking him
in north central Iraq, he said he imagined the support network was similar to
those exposed after the capture near Tikrit of Saddam's private secretary and
the killing of his sons Uday and Qusay in Mosul last month.

"There's tribal support that he gets," Odierno said.

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

"My guess is he's doing it very covertly. 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 around in unassuming
clothes and vehicles."

DISMANTLING SUPPORT NETWORK

Odierno stressed that his force's main targets were lower level guerrillas
attacking his troops in the former leader's "Sunni triangle" heartlands north
and west of Baghdad.

"I don't think he is ordering any attacks on our soldiers. I don't think he has
the capability to command and control."

The U.S. offensive against Saddam's supporters, however, should also be making
it harder for him to survive: "Because we've been picking up a lot of his
internal network, this necessitates it even more that he must move."

But Odierno cautioned: "Whether we're getting closer to capturing him or not, I
don't know."

Aside from leads from informants, he said his troops were keeping particular
watch on certain types of terrain, including residential areas, where Saddam
might find a suitable hideout.

Recalling the killing of his sons in a display of U.S. firepower, Odierno said
that if Saddam were finally cornered he would take no chances, but would rather
take him alive.

"We will take whatever force is necessary in order to safeguard our soldiers.
So if there is intense fire, if we went and there were several bodyguards then
there might be a pretty good firefight," he said.

"Hopefully he'll turn himself in. Do I think he'll turn himself in? Probably
not. Would we like to take him alive if we catch him? Absolutely. I think that
would be very helpful to do that, let the people see that we have captured
him."

08/07/03 03:36 ET