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01-23-2004, 11:15 AM
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TIKRIT, Iraq (*******) - The hole in which U.S. soldiers found former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein hiding could be filled in to prevent it becoming a "shrine," a U.S. military spokesman said on Friday.
The U.S. 4th Infantry Division, which captured Saddam at a farm in central Iraq last month, has asked for permission to destroy the hole and the nearby mud hut which were his last refuges.
"In order to avoid making it a tourist attraction and/or a shrine, we believe the best course of action is to eliminate it," 4th Infantry Division spokesman Master Sergeant Robert Cargie said.
Cargie that cautioned no decision had been made by military commanders in Baghdad, nor by the Iraqi Governing Council. Both will have a say in the final course of action, and destroying it is just one option, Cargie said.
The spokesman declined to discuss other possibilities and the U.S. military in Baghdad had no comment.
About 600 soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division and special forces captured the bearded and bedraggled Saddam inside the 2.6 meter (8 foot)-deep hole. It was large enough only for one person and equipped with just a strip light and fan.
Nearby was a small mud hut Saddam had also used, in which soldiers found two beds, a refrigerator containing lemonade and hot dogs and an open box of Belgian chocolates.
Cargie said the unit that had guarded the hole against looters and souvenir hunters since Saddam's December 13 capture turned over security this week to the U.S.-trained Iraqi Civil Defense Corps. Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division still patrol the area.
A wealthy Iraqi arrested by U.S. forces provided the tip-off that led to Saddam's capture.
The hole is on a farm in the village of Al Dawr beside the Tigris River, about 9 miles south of Saddam's adopted hometown and onetime power base at Tikrit, where the 4th Infantry Division is based.
TIKRIT, Iraq (*******) - The hole in which U.S. soldiers found former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein hiding could be filled in to prevent it becoming a "shrine," a U.S. military spokesman said on Friday.
The U.S. 4th Infantry Division, which captured Saddam at a farm in central Iraq last month, has asked for permission to destroy the hole and the nearby mud hut which were his last refuges.
"In order to avoid making it a tourist attraction and/or a shrine, we believe the best course of action is to eliminate it," 4th Infantry Division spokesman Master Sergeant Robert Cargie said.
Cargie that cautioned no decision had been made by military commanders in Baghdad, nor by the Iraqi Governing Council. Both will have a say in the final course of action, and destroying it is just one option, Cargie said.
The spokesman declined to discuss other possibilities and the U.S. military in Baghdad had no comment.
About 600 soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division and special forces captured the bearded and bedraggled Saddam inside the 2.6 meter (8 foot)-deep hole. It was large enough only for one person and equipped with just a strip light and fan.
Nearby was a small mud hut Saddam had also used, in which soldiers found two beds, a refrigerator containing lemonade and hot dogs and an open box of Belgian chocolates.
Cargie said the unit that had guarded the hole against looters and souvenir hunters since Saddam's December 13 capture turned over security this week to the U.S.-trained Iraqi Civil Defense Corps. Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division still patrol the area.
A wealthy Iraqi arrested by U.S. forces provided the tip-off that led to Saddam's capture.
The hole is on a farm in the village of Al Dawr beside the Tigris River, about 9 miles south of Saddam's adopted hometown and onetime power base at Tikrit, where the 4th Infantry Division is based.