Iraqi commander Ali Hassan al-Majid may still be alive. British forces spokesman Chris Vernon said Friday he was "99 per cent sure" that al-Majid was killed in an air strike in the third week of the war.
But Iraqi soldiers told a BBC reporter that they had seen him alive in his home town of Al-Amara in south-east Iraq. Captain Vernon said the attack on al-Majid had been a turning point in the war.
Asked why he was not 100 per cent sure that al-Majid was dead, Capt Vernon said: "If there is a body, it will be under a lot of rubble, but I am pretty sure that I can say almost absolutely that he was killed in that air raid, and we've had no subsequent sighting or any intelligence that he survived."
However, an unnamed Iraqi soldier said he saw al-Majid at 4.30pm local time near Al-Amara on the day after the US-led forces claimed to have killed him.
Al mAJID and his entourage were driven into the town in a convoy of a Mercedes, two four-wheel drive Nissan patrols and a truck. "The people gathered after Ali Hassan al-Majid got out from his car," the soldier told the BBC.
"They were encouraged after seeing him. They were from the militia, Fedayeen, and the Baath Party." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
