Saddam took $1bn on eve of bombing

SADDAM HUSSEIN and his family took about one billion dollars from Iraq’s central bank shortly before the United States began bombing Baghdad, US government officials confirmed yesterday.

Treasury department officials said they didn't know where the money was taken and were still checking out details of the incident, including the denomination of the missing US currency.

The New York Times reported that Saddam ordered the money be taken from the central bank and sent his son Qusai to grab the cash in the middle of the night.