Saddam sons cosmetically improved

US doctors cosmetically improved the bodies of Saddam Hussein's sons today -their faces reconstructed to appear as lifelike as possible after still photos failed to convince many Iraqis they were really dead.

Meanwhile, a US general revealed his troops had captured five to 10 men believed to be Saddam's bodyguards, a sign forces were closing in on the fallen leader.

"We continue to tighten the noose," said Major General Ray Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division in Tikrit, Saddam's home town and a source of continuing support for his deposed regime.

The bodyguards were caught in a raid on a house near Tikrit yesterday following a tip.

General Odierno said the deaths of Uday and Qusay Hussein have prompted more tips from Iraqis.

"We've shown them no one of the old regime is going to survive," he said.

He also said US troops have spoken with a wife of Saddam. He did not identify her.

The images of Uday and Qusay Hussein published yesterday had raised criticism by showing only the brothers' faces and upper chests - the faces obscured by heavy beards, blood and gashes - and giving no indication of height.

At Baghdad International Airport today, journalists were shown the bodies and identifying evidence, including dental records and a rod from Uday's leg.

Uday's beard had been trimmed to the length he had worn it in life. Qusay's beard was shaved off and he had only his trademark moustache.

The faces appeared waxy and heavily made up.

Morticians removed a large gash that had cut across the middle of Uday's face. Uday's abdomen had been riddled with bullets, and the torsos of both brothers bore large Y-shaped incisions.

Autopsy incisions were also visible on Uday's left leg, where doctors removed the eight inch long bar inserted after a 1996 assassination attempt. A piece of leg bone taken out with the bar was wrapped in plastic and lying next to his body on the trolley.

Uday, 39, and Qusay, 37, were killed on Tuesday in a gun battle with US troops, who raided a villa in the northern city of Mosul, directed there by an Iraqi tipster. Two other Iraqis in the house also were killed, believed to be a bodyguard and Qusay's teenage son Mustafa.

The US had offered a £20 million reward for information leading to the capture or death of the brothers - two of the most feared men in Iraq.

Uday was believed to have died from a head injury caused by a blunt object. Qusay had two bullet wounds to his head, in and just behind his right ear, doctors and medical officials said.

They said they did not think the wounds were self-inflicted. A final report on the brothers' deaths is expected within six weeks.

US officials said the bodies would be stored in a refrigerated tent at Baghdad airport until a family member came forward to claim them.

The US civil administration in Iraq was talking to the country's Governing Council about how to preserve the bodies according to Islamic custom, which calls for burial as soon as possible. Usually, Muslims are buried before nightfall the day they die.

However, the reconstruction - a common funeral practice in the West - could raise doubts and anger among Iraqis, since Muslims have no tradition of embalming bodies.

Before burial, the bodies of Muslims are washed and wrapped in white cotton cloth, but they are not otherwise treated. If a Muslim falls in battle, then he or she is declared a martyr and buried without their bodies washed.

The extensive plastic surgery also could fuel Iraqi suspicions that the Americans tampered with bodies to make them resemble the brothers.

US officials said they treated the bodies with the same respect given any corpse, and that making the brothers look lifelike was standard military procedure.

But the reconstruction was significant because of the doubt about the still photographs. Surgeons displayed dental X-rays and said serial and model numbers on the rod from Uday's leg matched data they had about it.

The photographs released Thursday were widely viewed on television around the world, including in Iraq. Among the complaints was that the photographs did not show the sons' full bodies, giving no way to judge their height.

Most papers in the capital, Baghdad, did not publish today, a Muslim day of prayer and rest. The Al Ray Al-Am ran a story about the pictures, but did not show them, opting instead to show an older colour photo of Uday wearing an Arab headdress, his faced crossed out with a red "X."

The photos seemed to have had little effect on Iraqi opinion.

"This is a US ploy to try to break the spirit of the resistance," said Jassim al-Robai, a computer engineer, who said the photographs did not convince him the brothers were killed.