http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...TICLE_ID=43217

OPERATION: IRAQI FREEDOM
Pentagon: Saddam capture
not fabricated by military
Saudi newspaper interviews 'former Marine' who says troops didn't catch Hussein in hole

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Posted: March 9, 2005
7:15 p.m. Eastern



© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com



Pentagon says Saddam Hussein was captured in this 'spider hole'

Was Saddam Hussein hiding in an underground bunker when he was captured, or was he caught in a house?

The Pentagon is flatly denying a report claiming the U.S. military fabricated the details of how the deposed Iraqi dictator was captured, allegedly staging the "spider hole" scenario.

"It's not true, period," Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin told WorldNetDaily.


She was referring to a story originally published by the Saudi newspaper al-Medina, and picked up by United Press International, which had quotes from someone identified as Sgt. Nadim Abou Rabeh, a former Marine who is said to have participated in the capture of Hussein.

He was quoted as saying Saddam was actually captured Friday, Dec. 12, 2003, a day earlier than the official version of the U.S. military.

"I was among the 20-man unit, including eight of Arab descent, who searched for Saddam for three days in the area of Dour near Tikrit, and we found him in a modest home in a small village and not in a hole as announced," Abou Rabeh said. "We captured him after fierce resistance during which a Marine of Sudanese origin was killed."

The UPI version continued to say Abou Rabeh said Saddam himself fired at them with a gun from a second-floor window, as forces shouted in Arabic: "You have to surrender. ... There is no point in resisting."

"Later on, a military production team fabricated the film of Saddam's capture in a hole, which was in fact a deserted well," Abou Rabeh told the paper.

WND contacted UPI about its story, and was told "United Press International published a summary of the newspaper report without seeking Pentagon comment."

The wire service has since posted an updated version, which states:

"Pentagon officials dismissed as 'ridiculous' and untrue a report that the capture of Saddam Hussein in Iraq was staged.

"A Saudi Arabian newspaper reported Tuesday that a former U.S. Marine, now living in Lebanon, claimed the Iraqi dictator had been captured earlier by a small team of troops, and forced into the now famous 'spider hole' to play a role in a film fabricated by the U.S. military to make Saddam look bad."

A Marine Corps captain contacted by WorldNetDaily was unable to confirm by press time if the Marine mentioned in the story was indeed in that branch of the armed forces.

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