It has been reported this morning that US officials have captured up to 10 of Saddam Hussein's personal bodyguards, boosting their confidence that after tracking down his two sons they will soon capture the former dictator.
The arrests last night near Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, could yield vital recent information about his movements. Maj Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, said it was a sign of Saddam's dwindling chances to evade capture.
"We continue to gain more and more information about where he might be," the general said during a teleconference with reporters at the Pentagon.
The way his sons Uday and Qusay died Tuesday - barricaded in a residence in Mosul with one bodyguard and Qusay's 14-year-old son - also is indicative of Saddam's troubles, officials of the US-led occupation force claimed.
The corpses of Uday and Qusay were put on display for journalists and TV crews yesterday, one day after they were shown to members of the new Iraqi governing council.
To allay doubts among some members of the Iraqi public that the two were indeed dead, the faces had been shorn of the beards the men had grown, apparently to disguise themselves. A wound to Uday's face was stitched up, so that it more closely resembled the way he looked in life.
Shortly after Uday and Qusay died in a fierce gunbattle at the house in Mosul, members of Task Force 20, dressed in civilian clothes under their body armor went through the building. They took away documents, computers and personal belongings of the occupants.