Iraq's former defense minister, who surrendered to US forces last week, was given "effective" immunity from prosecution, and the United States has great hopes he will provide significant information on Saddam Hussein's weapons activities, a senior US official said this evening.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said other "lower level guys who were technical functionaries in Iraq's weapons programs" were also given immunity and have been assisting former UN inspector David Kay in his eagerly awaited inquiry on Iraqi arms.
Former Defense Minister Sultan Hashim Ahmed, seen at Saddam Hussein's side in what is thought to have been the ousted dictator's last public appearance, was number 27 on Washington's wanted list of Iraqi fugitives.
He turned himself over to US troops in the northern city of Mosul on September 19th after several weeks of negotiations.
"I don't know what he's going to say, but he's knowledgeable about what their actual weapons capacity is and he is going to be very important. I think that's one reason why, when they agreed to accept this surrender, they, in effect, agreed not to prosecute," the US official said.