Saddam Hussein has been hiding in his hometown Tikrit and is believed to be exerting influence within the resistance that has been killing American soldiers at a rate of nearly one every two days, a US officer said this evening.
An American officer in Tikrit said that Saddam likely has a "strong influence" on anti-US guerrilla attacks in the area around the city.
"We have clear indication he has been here recently," Maj. Troy Smith, executive officer of the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, told reporters.
"He could be here right now," Smith added. "At the least, he is maintaining a strong influence in the area."
Support for Saddam still runs deep in Tikrit and other parts of the so-called "Sunni triangle," a region north of Baghdad where Saddam's Baathist regime drew much of its power.
Most of the attacks employ rocket propelled grenades or roadside bombs. Saddam's Fedayeen militia and his most loyal supporters are believed to be financing and organizing the attacks. The US military says it has uncovered scores of bomb-making facilities and weapons caches in private homes across the Sunni region.
Saddam, who was born in a village on the southern outskirts of Tikrit, was last seen in Baghdad in early April as the city was falling to American forces. His sons Odai and Qusai were killed July 22 in the northern city of Mosul.
Smith did not elaborate on intelligence information that has led the military to conclude that Saddam has been in the Tikrit area but expressed confidence in the quality of the information.
"Where else would he go to?" Smith said. "He has family and tribal roots here."