Saddam Hussein proposed negotiations, denied existence of mass destruction weapons

Commander of the combat first brigade at the 4th infantry division, Brian Reed, said that the toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein requested negotiations when his forces arrested Hussein in al-Dawr area near Tikrit. It was not clear what Saddam wanted to negotiate about.

However, the British foreign office secretary doubted in a press conference that the Toppled Iraqi President will disclose details about banned weapons programs, noting "frankly speaking" I do not expect any confession from Saddam Hussein.

A similar report to this effect was made by the US Time Magazine. The magazine said that Saddam Hussein denied to have had mass destruction weapons, and did not cooperate upon his investigation. The magazine quoted an American officials as saying that the toppled Iraqi president said during his interrogation that the US fabricated the story of the mass destruction weapons to justify launching the war against Iraq.

The confessions made by one of the detained Iraqis in Tikrit, was the beginning of the lead that enabled the occupation forces to reach the basement where Saddam Hussein was hiding, ending more than 8 months of relentless search for him.

U.S. officials said that the Iraqi who was anonymous, had facilitated the joint operation, which was carried out by the intelligence and the armed forces.

However, there are news indicating that Saddam's second wife Sameera al-Shahabandar who is alleged to be living in Lebanon at the meantime, is one of the source of information which led to arresting Saddam Hussein. But Washington denied that, and said that the acts of arrest of Iraqis had led to information that facilitated narrowing down the location of Saddam Hussein that he was moving in.