Special treatment for Saddam's 'Jabba'

Saddam Hussein’s last defence minister surrendered to an American commander today after weeks of drawn out negotiations which led to him getting special treatment.

General Sultan Hashim Ahmad was handed over in the northern city of Mosul “with great respect,” said Dawood Bagistani, a Kurdish go-between who arranged the surrender to Major General David Petraeus.

His family was allowed to accompany him as he reported to Petraeus, who commands the 101st Airborne Division.

Bagistani said the American military had promised to remove Ahmad’s name from the list of 55 most-wanted, meaning he would not face indefinite confinement and possible prosecution.

“His health is excellent and he is in high spirits,” the mediator said in Mosul today.

“He kept saying that he was a military man and did his job. I am very happy that the Americans have kept all their promises with regard to the former minister,” Bagistani said.

Ahmad, the eight of hearts in the deck of playing cards of Iraqi fugitives, was number 27 on the most-wanted list.

Thirty-eight of that group are now in custody and 14 remain at large. Three are either dead or thought to be dead.

During the 1991 Gulf War, Ahmed, then a lieutenant general was picked by Saddam to head the Iraqi delegation at ceasefire talks .

Ahmed was responsible for persuading General Norman Schwarzkopf to allow Iraq to use military helicopters on official business.

The allies came to regret that decision a month or so later when the Iraqis used helicopter gunships to help quell rebellious Shiites in Basra and Kurds in the north.

The special treatment for the overweight Ahmad, dubbed Jabba the Hutt after the Star Wars character by disrespectful coalition troops, could be an effort to defuse the guerrilla-style attacks that are taking a toll on US soldiers.

Many of the attackers are thought to be former soldiers in Saddam’s army, and seeing their former military leader well-treated by the Americans might encourage them to abandon their insurgency.

It could also win points for the Americans among local tribes, whose leaders wanted Ahmad to be well-treated.

“We are certain that they will let him go,” said Sheik Bader Suheil al-Zaydi, chief of one of the tribes in the Mosul area. He said Ahmad was a good man who served only his country and not Saddam’s Baath Party.

Colonel Joe Anderson, commander of the 2nd Brigade of the 101st, promised that Ahmad’s surrender “will guarantee that he will be treated with dignity and respect and be allowed the opportunity to explain his former situation.”

“He is on the top 55 list because of his previous position, not because of any attacks he has conducted against coalition forces or the Iraqi people,” Anderson said.

US troops backed by helicopters and armoured vehicles fought an overnight battle near Tikrit after coming under a coordinated attack that killed three soldiers and wounded two.

Though Americans have been the targets of near-daily attacks, the battle in and around the village of Uja – Saddam’s birthplace – was unusual because of its intensity and length. The fighting lasted until daybreak, the military said.

The attacks in Tikrit were the most intense and coordinated since US forces arrived in the area in April, according to the spokeswoman of the 4th Infantry Division, Major Jocelyn Aberle.

They began as soldiers were sealing off parts of Uja to conduct a raid against Iraqi resistance cells. Gunmen in a white pick-up truck opened fire on an observation post, followed by deadly rocket and small arms fire on a patrol in which the three Americans died.