Saddam's deputy 'behind attacks'

By Nick Childs
BBC Pentagon correspondent

The United States is investigating reports that one of the most trusted members of Saddam Hussein's inner circle is coordinating at least some of the attacks on the US-led coalition in Iraq by former government loyalists and foreign fighters.

Al-Douri comes from Tikrit, like Saddam Hussein

The man in question is Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the number two in the former Iraqi government and the most senior ex-Iraqi leader still unaccounted for, apart from Saddam Hussein himself.

The Pentagon has long tried to play down just how coordinated the resistance in Iraq is.

But now it seems senior US commanders believe that Mr Ibrahim may be masterminding at least some of the attacks somewhere in northern Iraq.

A senior Pentagon official said there are reports that the man who was officially the number two in the former government, is coordinating Saddam Hussein loyalists and foreign fighters.

Just how strong these suspicions are, or how far the coordination extends, isn't clear.

But one of the sources for these reports was apparently the capture recently in northern Iraq of two members of Ansar al-Islam, a radical Muslim group suspected of links to the al-Qaeda network.

With the recent upsurge in violence in Iraq, the man in overall military charge of the US military operation there, General John Abizaid, is trying to boost US intelligence capabilities in an effort to stem the attacks.