Press Interpreter

06/03/05 -- BAGHDAD -- al-Quds al-Arabi : An informed source reported that the Syrian government was behind the arrest of Sabaawi Ibrahim, the half-brother of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in the final days of the month of Shebat (February) this year.

The source revealed details of the extradition procedure for the first time and said that the Syrian authorities offered decisive aid in the arrest of Sabaawi, who was the chief of the Iraqi Mukhabbarat* and among the chief aides of Saddam, hoping to relieve the formidable pressure coming from Washington.

He added that after nearly a month of exhaustive efforts on the part of the army, the Syrian authorities learned that Sabaawi was secluded among the Beni Hassan tribe near the common border with Iraq, and asked the Sheikh of the tribe to hand him over, but the Sheikh refused, saying, “You can arrest me or even kill me, but I can never surrender a guest.�

After severe pressure and extensive attempts at arrest, the Sheikh agreed to leave Sabaawi at the Iraqi border, but without relinquishing him to anyone. In fact, Sabaawi did cross the border, while he was being supervised by American aircraft, so that he might be taken into custody by American troops, who delivered him over to the Iraqi government.

Reluctantly, due to the decisive role played by Syria in the arrest of Sabaawi, Washington continued to raise its pressure upon Syria on the matter of the allegations that infiltrators were gushing forth across the common border with Iraq.

Sabaawi is the second to be charged, after the deputy Izzah Ibrahim, of laying out the military efforts against the American occupation in Iraq.

The source also said that Washington had broken its promise to the Syrian authorities to acknowledge that the combined efforts were a great aid to the success of their efforts in detaining Sabaawi, and that Damascus was seeking no more than to overcome the American suspicions.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered harsh statements a few days after the arrest of Sabaawi, saying that the Syrian regime required changing, and that its affairs were not in keeping with the democratic changes in the Middle East.
The Iraqi government had refused to reveal details of the effort to arrest Sabaawi, indicating the possibility that there might have been accomplices, and that their arrest is proceeding in much the same manner.

The news reports concerning the role of the Syrian Kurds in the arrest of Sabaawi, and his release into the custody of the Iraqi Kurds, as the Iraqi government sources have alleged, are unsubstantiated.

Observers deemed it unlikely that the Syrian Kurds, who are subject to strict supervision on the part of the Syrian government, would be capable of any role in the effort to hand over Sabaawi without the knowledge or acquiescence** of Damascus.

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[*] Intelligence and Secret Police

[**] lit. “a green light from�

Al-Quds al-Arabi (the Arab Jerusalem) is an independent Arabic newspaper published by the Palestinian expatriate community in London. Much like al-Hayat (originally founded in Beirut) and al-Sharq al-Awsat (Saudi-owned), it is one of the Arab world's chief daily newspapers despite being published in the UK.

--Translated by C.G. Häberl

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