U.S. General Confirms Saddam's Sons Killed

B A G H D A D, Iraq, July 22, 2003 -- Saddam Hussein's sons Odai and Qusai Hussein were among four Iraqis killed in a raid in the northern city of Mosul, the senior U.S. commander in Iraq confirmed today.

"We're certain that Odai and Qusai were killed," Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez told a news conference. "They died in a fierce gunbattle."

Sanchez said the sons were located at a Mosul villa through a "walk-in" tip received Monday night. When U.S. troops were sent to investigate the building, they were met with small-arms fire.

The "suspects barricaded themselves in the house" and "resisted fiercely," Sanchez said.

A six-hour operation that involved various military units on the ground and in the air ensued. Among the participants were soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division and Task Force 20, a secret special forces team charged with hunting down members of the former regime, officials told ABCNEWS.

Sanchez said despite the intensity of the battle, "the bodies were in such a condition where you could identify them." The U.S. military was still working to identify two other bodies, he said.

U.S. officials believe the remaining bodies are those of Qusai Hussein's teenage son and a bodyguard.

Four coalition soldiers were wounded in the operation and were being treated, Sanchez said.

Sanchez planned to give a detailed briefing on the operation Wednesday at 8 a.m. ET.

But Where Is Saddam?

There was speculation the deaths of Saddam's sons could lead to information on the whereabouts of the former Iraqi dictator himself.

No one in Saddam's regime was closer to him than his two sons, and there is speculation that if anyone knows where he is, they would.

Sanchez said U.S. forces were "continuing to exploit the site and everything that we captured in that raid."

When asked whether the two $15 million rewards for information leading to the arrest of Saddam's sons would be given out to the informant, Sanchez said he expected "it probably will happen." Saddam Hussein has a $25 million reward on his head.

The person who tipped off U.S. forces about the sons' whereabouts has been identified as a Mosul resident, and U.S. officials are hoping more Iraqis will come forward now.

Paul Bremer, the top U.S. administrator for Iraq, told ABCNEWS' Charles Gibson the success of the raid boded well for U.S. effort to get Saddam.

"We're starting to get Iraqis coming and giving us info about what's going on, what's going on where Baathists are," he said.

"We have the possibility of somebody coming with the big one. Somebody who really wants to get the $25 million reward. It will move the day closer when we get our hands on the father."

No Doubts

Initially there were some concerns that they could be the bodies of look-alikes, as Saddam's sons were known to employ doubles as decoys.

But Sanchez said "multiple sources" were used to identify the bodies. One was Abid Hamid Mahmoud, Saddam's most trusted adviser, a senior military official told ABCNEWS. Mahmoud was captured by American forces last month.

Mahmoud is the ace of diamonds in the U.S. deck of cards depicting the most-wanted Iraqis and was fourth on the U.S. wanted list, coming only behind Saddam's two sons and Saddam himself. Odai was the ace of hearts, Qusai the ace of clubs, and Saddam the ace of spades.

Local witnesses also said the bodies appeared to be those of Odai and Qusai.

U.S. officials said they do not expect to do any genetic testing of the bodies to confirm their identities. Genetic testing is virtually infallible, but can take days or weeks.

However, U.S. officials are expected to release photographs of the bodies as early as Wednesday to allow the Iraqi people to confirm for themselves that Saddam's sons are dead.

Bremer spokesman Charles Heatley told Arab television station Al Arabiya the faces of the dead men were easily recognizable, and the Iraqis would be convinced once they had seen the bodies.

"There will be no doubt or question over the identity of the two men," Heatley said. "The Iraqi people will recognize them."

Dreaded Heirs

As news of the deaths spread, gunfire — presumably celebratory gunfire — could be heard across the Iraqi capital, ABCNEWS' Jim Scuitto reported from Baghdad.

The White House also hailed the deaths of Saddam's sons. "Over the period of many years, these two individuals were responsible for countless atrocities committed against the Iraqi people and they can no longer cast a shadow of hate on Iraq," it said in a statement.

Odai, 39, and Qusai, 37, were two of the most feared figures in prewar Iraq. Odai, in particular, was said to torture or kill Iraqi citizens seemingly on a whim.

Both sons held important positions in the Baathist regime before Saddam was ousted from power earlier this year.

Before the war, Qusai served as the head of the all-powerful Special Security Organization, an extensive network of intelligence, security and paramilitary wings that once permeated all levels of Iraqi society.

Odai had been considered his father's likely heir until a 1996 assassination attempt left him barely able to walk. His list of alleged crimes included rape, torture, intimidation and murder.

Infamous for his murderously bad temper, Odai also oversaw the Fedayeen Saddam, a ragtag, notoriously violent paramilitary group, which has been blamed for much of the violence in postwar Iraq.

Bremer told ABCNEWS' Gibson that he expected such supporters to react violently to today's raid. "There may be a higher risk of some retaliatory attacks," he said.

Nevertheless, Bremer, who was in Washington today, told reporters: "It's a good day for the Iraq people and good news for our forces."

Heavy Fighting

The raid in Mosul came weeks after sources told ABCNEWS that Sajida Hussein, Saddam's first wife and the mother of his two older sons, had fled to the northern city.

Witnesses in Mosul said U.S. troops encountered heavy gunfire as they conducted the raid in the Kurdish-dominated city, which in the past has been a center of Arab nationalism.

Meanwhile, ABCNEWS has learned that a U.S. raid conducted near the Syrian border last month was targeting Saddam's two sons.

The controversial June 18 raid resulted in the injury and detention of five Syrian border guards amid reports that U.S. troops crossed into Syrian territory.

A senior military official told ABCNEWS he believes U.S. forces missed the two men by only half an hour.

ABCNEWS' Martha Raddatz and Brian Hartman in Washington and Jim Sciutto in Baghdad contributed to this report.