Saddam's son took $1.8 billion from Iraq vaults, says paper

NEW YORK - A son of Saddam Hussein and a close adviser carried off nearly US$1 billion ($1.78 billion) in cash from Iraq's central bank hours before the United States-led war on the country began, the New York Times reported on its website late yesterday.

The amount of cash was so large that three tractor trailers were needed to carry it, the newspaper reported, citing an Iraqi official.

The alleged removal was said to have been ordered by Saddam himself. Qusay, the deposed leader's second son, and one of the president's personal assistants, Abid al-Hamid Mahmood, carried a letter from Saddam authorising the removal of the money, the newspaper reported.

"When you get an order from Saddam Hussein, you do not discuss it," an unnamed Iraqi official who held a senior position in a bank told The Times. The unnamed official was told about the removal of the cash by the people who turned it over to Qusay and the adviser, the newspaper reported.

The New York Times said Iraqi officials were uncertain what effect the disappearance of the cash, which amounted to about one quarter of the central bank's hard currency reserves, would have on the Iraqi economy.

American officials and Iraqis interviewed by The Times said they did not know where the money went, but some Americans said they suspect it was transported to Syria, the newspaper reported. The money was reportedly stolen at 4am on March 18.

Colonel Ted Seel, a US army special forces officer, said he was aware of the seizure of cash, the newspaper reported. He said there was intelligence information at the time that suggested a group of tractor trailers were crossing into Syria from Iraq.

The Times however quoted a US Treasury Department official, George Mullinax, as saying that it was possible a large chunk of the money had been recovered.

He said about $650 million in US $100 bills found by an American sergeant in one of Saddam's palaces might be from the central bank, although that had not been determined for certain.

Saddam and his two sons have not been seen in public since the war began. The ousted Iraqi leader made a number of television appearances during the war, but it was not possible to verify when they were recorded.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq