Saddam Hussein raid site excavated

The Mansour raid left a huge crater

US troops are re-examining the site of a wartime attempt to kill Saddam Hussein because it had not been properly checked before, the top US commander in Iraq has said.

Lieutenant-General David McKiernan said previous searches of the site in Baghdad's Mansour district had not been thorough enough.

The site was attacked in an air strike on 7 April, amid reports that Saddam Hussein and his two sons were meeting in a restaurant there.

Several houses were destroyed in the raid, which came two days before Baghdad fell to US forces.

Saddam ran away - He's hiding

Munther Meki, grocer

There has been no conclusive evidence so far to determine whether the former Iraqi leader is dead or alive.

Video allegedly taken on 9 April showed Saddam Hussein waving to supporters in the Azamiyah district.

And last month the Sydney Morning Herald published details of an audio tape, purportedly made by Saddam Hussein, urging Iraqis to fight the US-led invasion.

At least 14 Iraqi civilians are believed to have been killed in the attack in Mansour, an upscale area of the capital.

General McKiernan said any forensic evidence found at the bomb site would be sent either to US bases in Qatar or to the United States. But he said the army did not have a sample of Saddam Hussein's DNA to check it against.

He did not know whether other parts of the US military or intelligence services had a sample.

The site has been left largely undisturbed in the weeks since the air strike. But now dozens of army engineers are digging through the rubble looking for human remains.

Nearby residents said they believed Saddam Hussein did survive the attack.

"Saddam ran away. He's hiding," grocer Munther Meki told AP news agency.