Images of Uday and Qusay released

IRAQ: The morgue photos of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay, were produced yesterday evening Baghdad time, an opportune moment to catch Iraqis who had electricity to power their television sets.

Without those images, many Iraqis would not believe the men to be dead.

The pictures show that both men had grown beards as a disguise since the fall of the Iraqi regime on April 9th. The first photograph released was of Uday (39), who had a bruised and bloated face and a gash running from his left eye to the right corner of his mouth. His slightly bulging eyes gave him away. He, reportedly, committed suicide following the death in the US assault of his younger brother, Qusay (37).

Qusay's distinctive profile revealed his identity as far as many Iraqis were concerned. However, his identification from the photographs would seem to be less certain than that of Uday.

Photographs were also released showing an X-ray of Uday's leg, apparently to show damage he suffered in an assassination attempt some years ago.

A spokesman for the US-led civil authority in Iraq said that journalists would be allowed to film the bodies for themselves today to dispel any doubts about the authenticity of the photographs. Dental records and X-rays would also be made available.

While some Iraqis who saw the photographs on television accepted that they were indeed of Saddam's two sons, others were more sceptical. Lt-Gen Wafiq al-Sammarai, former head of Iraqi military intelligence, who emigrated in the 1990s to join the opposition, told the Arab television station al-Jazeera: "The pictures are not clear. They don't give a clear idea, and personally I can't take them as evidence that these two bodies are Uday and Qusay."