Saddam alive, says top US official

The top US official in Iraq says he believes Saddam Hussein is still alive and remains in the war-battered nation but is not orchestrating daily attacks on American troops.

Paul Bremer also told NBC television that Americans should prepare for a lengthy stay in Iraq.

“It’s clear that given the size of the task, we are going to be there for a while,” he said. “I don’t know how many years.”

Two American soldiers were killed and one was injured in an ambush in northern Iraq today. That followed the death yesterday of an American soldier who was shot while guarding a bank in west Baghdad.

The deaths brought to 151 the number of US soldiers killed in action since the March 20, the start of the war, four more than the total killed in the 1991 Gulf War.

Bremer said there was no evidence of any central control in the attacks. “What we’re seeing is highly professional but very small, sort of squad-level attacks, five or six people at a time attacking us.”

But getting the deposed Iraqi dictator would help the situation.

“The sooner we can either kill him or capture him, the better, because the fact that his fate is unknown certainly gives his supporters the chance to go around and try to rally support for him,” said Bremer.

In time, Bremer said of Saddam, “we’ll get him.”