Saddam linked to al-Qaida

A CLOSE confidant of Saddam Hussein, whose daughter is the widow of one of the deposed dictator's sons, is believed to be working with an al-Qaida-linked terrorist group to co-ordinate attacks in Iraq.

Two captured members of Ansar al-Islam have identified Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri as a force behind some of the attacks, said a senior US defence official. Al-Douri is number six on the most-wanted list of 55 Iraqis and was vice-chairman of Saddam's Revolutionary Command Council.

He was one of Saddam's few long-time confidants and his daughter was married to Saddam's brutal son, Uday, who was killed in a raid in Mosul by US forces in July.

The official said it is the first solid evidence of links between remnants of Saddam's regime and non-Iraqi fighters responsible for at least some attacks on US forces and their Iraqi allies.

However, other officials said the vast majority of Ansar members are Iraqi ethnic Kurds, not foreigners.

US Under-secretary of State John Bolton said yesterday he believes al-Qaida was partly to blame for the recent surge in attacks, including Monday's bombing at the Baghdad headquarters of the Red Cross.

"I think the attack on the Red Cross demonstrated to many Iraqis that they are being used by al-Qaida and other terrorist groups for purposes that have nothing to do with the well-being of the people of Iraq," he told the BBC.

Pentagon officials say Ansar al-Islam, which operated in northern Iraq before its camp was destroyed during the war, poses one of the greatest threats in Iraq. Military commanders have said they believe hundreds of non-Iraqi fighters from Ansar have entered Iraq to fight the US led occupation, many of them through Iran.

US officials have been searching for months for suspected links between Saddam loyalists and foreign fighters like Ansar members.

The increased violence continued yesterday as the UN prepared to join the Red Cross exodus from Baghdad.

An explosion shook Baghdad's old quarter last night, triggering a large fire. Gunfire broke out in the area as US helicopters flew overhead.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi policeman said that an explosive device, possibly a mortar round, went off inside a printing shop, killing two people and injuring four. Also, insurgents blasted a freight train west of Baghdad and exploded a bomb near a convoy in a northern city, injuring an US soldier.

Attacks on American troops have surged this week to about 33 per day, up from 26 per day last week and 15 per day in early September.