In intense hunt for Saddam Hussein and his two sons was under way Saturday, after the most important Iraqi captured yet told his interrogators the three men were still alive, according to U.S. officials.

The officials, who asked not to be identified, said that although U.S. special forces called "Task Force 20," along with CIA support, were searching for Saddam, Uday and Qusay, intelligence agencies were not sure if Saddam's captured former secretary was telling the truth.

"If it was specific, we would have them," one U.S. official said of the information provided by Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, captured earlier this week in Iraq.

"We are looking very hard" for Saddam and the sons, said another official.

The officials confirmed reports from NBC Nightly News, The New York Times and The Washington Post that Saddam and his sons were apparently alive. Mahmoud also told his interrogators he fled to Syria with the sons after Baghdad fell and then reentered Iraq, officials said. Mahmoud said the sons are no longer together, officials said.

Syria has angrily denied U.S. charges it harbored Saddam or members of his family or that it has any knowledge top former Iraqi leaders might have taken refuge in the neighboring nation during or since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam.

'VERY AGGRESSIVE EFFORT'

Sen. Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Saturday that American forces were mounting a "very aggressive effort" to follow up on information provided by Mahmoud.

Roberts, R-Kan., confirmed that Mahmud had told U.S. interrogators, "There is every likelihood that Saddam is alive."

"We have now mounted a very aggressive effort to follow up on what he has told, basically, his captors," Roberts said at a news conference in Topeka, Kan. "If he is alive - and there's still a lot of speculation - I think he will be found," he added.

Roberts said reports that Saddam is alive give his supporters "credibility in their own minds" and could be fueling anti-American attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq.

"That's why they're staging this, basically, guerrilla war against our forces, and we're suffering casualties," Roberts said.

Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, said the issue of Saddam's fate needed to be resolved one way or another.

"I don't want to get into the actual things he (Mahmud) is saying in interrogation, but it is clear to us this is a very important guy ... if he cooperates we will certainly have a better fix on what has happened to the top three," Bremer told reporters on the sidelines of a regional economic meeting being held in Jordan.

LITTLE NEW WEAPONS INFORMATION

U.S. officials also said Mahmoud was talking a little about any Iraqi chemical and biological weapons.

Mahmoud has apparently singled out which members of the Iraqi regime were responsible for which programs, but has not told interrogators where to look for any such weapons.

White House officials said on Friday it was unclear if the former Iraqi leader was alive or dead, although other officials acknowledged there was growing evidence he might be alive.

"We know that this guy (Mahmoud) was his (Saddam's) shadow at one time. But who knows what's true and what's not here," one U.S. official said on Saturday.

Mahmoud was regarded by Washington as the most wanted Iraqi figure after Saddam and his sons. He was No. 4 on America's list of 55 most-wanted former regime figures. U.S. forces have now captured at least 32 of the people on the list.

Close

Today's Top News		Top International News
+The next great leap after Shenzhou V ( 2003-10-21) +Hu calls for balanced development ( 2003-10-21) +Report: SARS not airborne virus ( 2003-10-21) +Japan urged to resolve weapons issue ( 2003-10-21) +Int'l AIDS group opens Beijing office ( 2003-10-21)		+US hopes Iraq fund will attract donors ( 2003-10-21) +Bolivia ex-president vows to return ( 2003-10-21) +UN report: US war on terror radicalizes Arabs ( 2003-10-21) +Israel raids in Gaza kill 10, wound 100 ( 2003-10-21) +EU ministers arrive in Iran for nuclear talks ( 2003-10-21)