US forces were 'hours' behind Saddam, says Armitage

6.00pm

WASHINGTON - United States forces conducting raids on Monday in Iraq missed Saddam Hussein by just "hours", US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said.

Armitage told CNN Saddam was "no Osama bin Laden" and not used to "living in the wild".

"I think most people feel that the noose is tightening pretty regularly around the neck of Saddam Hussein, even today there were three raids and we believe we were just hours behind Saddam Hussein," he said on CNN.

A US soldier was killed in Baghdad in broad daylight on Monday and three were wounded, one seriously, after an attacker dropped a bomb or grenade from a bridge.

Since May 1, when US President George W Bush declared an end to major combat operations, 50 US soldiers have been confirmed killed in guerrilla attacks and more than 50 others in accidents.

Armitage said the biggest problem in Iraq was "a combination of Baathist elements" and "outside terrorists".

"We've seen some indications that Hizbollah may actually be trying to do something, that is to harm our interests in an already confused situation," he said, adding that others from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan and Syria had also been involved in armed attacks against US-led forces in Iraq.

Armitage said he did not think any one group was leading the guerrilla-style attacks but it was rather free-lance individuals "trying to take advantage of the confusion".

On Monday a previously unknown Iraqi Muslim militant group, calling themselves the Salafist Jihad, said in a videotape aired on Arab television they would fight a "holy war" against Bush.

Saddam was Iraq's president for more than two decades until the US-led invasion launched in March crushed his government in a matter of weeks. Bin Laden, accused of masterminding the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States which prompted the US war in Afghanistan, has apparently survived intensive US strikes and eluded capture.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq