British intelligence officials believed Saddam Hussein had escaped US bomb attack on a building where the Iraqi leader was thought to be meeting with his top aides. According to them, he may have left minutes before the strike on the restaurant in the al-Mansour district of Baghdad.
The restaurant is reported to have housed an underground bunker system. "We think he (Saddam) left the same way he arrived in the area, either by a tunnel system or by car, we're not sure," one British intelligence official told The Times.
Other British intelligence sources were quoted by the Guardian newspaper on Wednesday as saying Saddam survived the attack. "He was probably not in the building when it was bombed," the source said. He added it was believed that Saddam had been in the building earlier.
But US officials are reported to have said there is a "strong chance" Saddam and his sons were killed. Senior US officials told Fox News: "There's a strong chance we got Saddam and probably both sons." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
