US may release ‘shocking’ corpse photos

THE US may have to release graphic photos of the bullet-ridden corpses of Saddam Hussein’s sons to convince sceptical Iraqis that they are dead, Bush administration officials said last night.

US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said the Pentagon was considering making public the “shocking” headshots of the men taken after they were killed in a fierce gun battle in northern Iraq yesterday.

Releasing the images was directly connected to the security of US forces as it would help convince doubtful Iraqis that Saddam’s regime was history, he said.

“The main consideration on our minds...is that it is saving the lives of American men and women who are on the line.”

Fear among Iraqis that Saddam and his sons may return to power is believed to have stopped many from coming forward with information about the continued resistance against US and British troops.

But the decision poses a dilemma for the Bush administration after it criticised broadcasters for showing footage of dead and injured US troops during the war.

Mr Wolfowitz’s comments came after the leader of the coalition forces in Iraq said dental records and independent identifications by four former regime officials showed that the two bodies were those of Qusay and Uday.

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez also said that the injuries on one of the bodies matched those on X-rays of Uday taken after an assassination attempt crippled him.

The bodies of Uday and Qusay have reportedly been taken to Baghdad international airport where they are to be flown out of the country.

Meanwhile, in Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit yesterday, residents voiced anger and denial over the deaths of Uday and Qusay.

“It’s all lies. They’re still alive. If you walk around Tikrit you might bump into them,” one man said, sitting in his pickup truck in the last major town to fall to US forces in the war.

“I don’t believe it. I saw a lot of stuff on TV, but none of it is true,” 23-year-old medical student Akil Edan said. “If they want us to believe it, they should show us the bodies.”