- (AFP) -- They live in his palaces, they have sealed off
his home village and they have thousands of soldiers hunting him down,
but US forces acknowledge that toppled tyrant Saddam Hussein is more elusive
than ever.
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- The ousted dictator still taunts his sworn enemies from
his portraits that remain in a bomb-shattered army base just outside his
hometown of Tikrit.
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- And Sunday night another audiotape surfaced of a voice
purported to be that of the ousted president warning US troops, or "the
evil ones", they were in a "dead-end" in Iraq.
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- Some US officials believe he is not only hiding out successfully,
but also may be directing the violent anti-coalition attacks that continue
more than seven months after his regime collapsed.
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- Some even believe he had planned before the war that
he would eventually wage a guerrilla-style battle against the forces occupying
his country.
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- But despite a 25-million-dollar price on his head, the
trail for Saddam seems to be colder than ever.
-
- "The height of our efforts on Saddam and his closest
associates was during the July timeframe," said Lieutenant-Colonel
Steven Russell, who commands the 4th Infantry Division's (4th ID) 1-22
battalion.
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- "But it slowed down after August; he has become
more elusive," he said, speaking in one of Saddam's palaces that serve
as the 4th ID's headquarters in Tikrit, 180 kilometers (110 miles) north
of Baghdad.
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- Earlier this month, US troops conducted a house-to-house
search of Oujah, Saddam's natal village on the outskirts of Tikrit, registering
the names of all adults who live there.
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- Anyone entering or leaving the village must now go through
a US-manned checkpoint.
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- In addition, thousand of troops throughout the country
are on the lookout for Iraq's most-wanted man.
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- The coalition forces often receive tip-offs about Saddam's
whereabouts. Many turn out to be false alerts, and others seem to come
just a few days too late.
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- "The truth of the matter is that most of the information
we get on Saddam is that he was here or there three or four days ago,"
said Russell.
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- Captain Musab Josef, a company commander of the newly-formed
Iraqi Civilian Defense Force (ICDC) in Tikrit, believes the speed at which
his former president moves from one hiding place to another borders on
the supernatural.
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- "He is the devil. He is seen in one area one day
and in another the next. How does he do it?"
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- Americans hope the ICDC and local police should be able
to provide some key clues as to the whereabouts of the man they say posed
a threat to the United States with the weapons of mass destruction he allegedly
stockpiled but which have also not been found.
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- Tikrit police chief Major General Muzhir believes Saddam
is not very far.
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- "We have specific information that he is in this
area, not in Tikrit, but very close."
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- And Russell is convinced that with fewer and fewer of
his closest aides still at large, Saddam eventually will be caught.
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- "We're draining the swamp," the colonel says.
"And, as the swamp drains, the nose and then the tail will appear,
and eventually the whole alligator will be there."
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