NP - War Update (Unconfirmed)

[David Morris]

http://www.debka.com/

IST 16:30 

DEBKAfile Exclusive: Tareq Aziz, Taha Ramadan defect 

According to an exclusive report reaching DEBKAfile from its military and
intelligence sources, top members of the Saddam Hussein regime have begun to
desert him. Sources in Kurdistan report that deputy prime minister Tareq Aziz
visited Turkey and instead of returning to Baghdad headed into Kurdistan and
went into hiding under Kurdish protection. He is said to be under interrogation
by American intelligence officers. Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan has not
been seen in Baghdad for three days and may too have fled the country. 

Both men were elevated to their positions in 1991 after long service to Saddam
Hussein as his most trusted lieutenants. 

>From northern Iraq we hear that hundreds of Iraqi soldiers and officers are
streaming to the Turkoman town of Tozkhurmato, discarding their weapons outside
the town and turning themselves in. 

>From the warfront we hear that the Marine column crossing the demilitarized
line from Kuwait is moving toward Nassariyah in southern Iraq, its objective
being to cross the Euphrates and reach Baghdad in two or three days. 



__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop!
http://platinum.yahoo.com