One Iraqi newspaper claimed to have conducted an instant poll that revealed 80% of those questioned believed the photographs were fakes. Initial reaction across the Arab world was, however, ambivalent. and deserve confirmation" that the two were dead. The army's top brass had warned that appearing to gloat over the bloody bodies would set a precedent that could backfire for the families of US soldiers killed in military action.ĭonald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, yesterday said it was not a snap decision but the Iraqi people were "awaiting. The decision to yesterday release the photographs had proved controversial - and to display the corpses no doubt more so - but the Pentagon's civilian leadership won out over the military. Meanwhile tissue samples from both bodies have been sent to a military lab in Washington for DNA testing. There were also stitches across the corpses' chests from an autopsy. Surgeons removed the metal rod that was placed in one of Uday's legs during reconstructive surgery after a 1996 assassination attempt and displayed it to reporters. But there was no sign that either of them had committed suicide, they added. The pathologists said that Uday most likely died from a blow to the head while Qusay had two bullet wounds to his head. The man said to be Qusay's uncharacteristic beard, visible in the original photographs, had been shaved off but a moustache, which Saddam's second son normally wore, had been left.Ī gaping wound in his claimed elder brother's face, also visible in the earlier pictures, appeared to have been repaired but a hole in the top of his head was still visible to reporters.īoth bodies had multiple scrapes, abrasions and burns. "The two bodies have undergone facial reconstruction with morticians' putty to make them resemble as closely as possible the faces of the brothers when they were alive," the official said. Photographs released yesterday, showing the bodies immediately after the they were pulled dead out of the Mosul villa that the US says became the brothers' last hideout, pictured them with bloodied faces but the corpses on display today had been cleaned up a little.Ī US military official said they had undergone some post-mortem facial reconstruction - standard practice, he said, and not an attempt to deceive the Iraqi people. The capture would provide a further boost to the US's military efforts in the country which, until Uday and Qusay's claimed deaths, had achieved few noticeable successes since the fall of Baghdad on April 9 and was losing soldiers to guerrilla attacks.Ī video of the corpses was today also broadcast on Arabic satellite channels in Iraq to provide more evidence for Qusay and Uday's deaths. Major General Ray Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, said it was unclear whether the captured men had been protecting him recently but insisted that the US was continuing to "tighten the noose" on the Ba'athist regime. Acting on a tip from an informant, the US today added to its claimed killing of Saddam's two sons with an announcement that it had captured up to 10 people in Tikrit believed to be members of the former dictator's personal bodyguard.
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