A U.S.-backed Iraqi opposition group said its members had shot and wounded the younger son of President Saddam Hussein during an ambush earlier this month, a London-based newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Asharq al-Awsat quoted the London-based Iraqi National Congress (INC) as saying in a statement that Qusay, who controls the elite Republican Guard, was wounded in the arm when a gunman shot at his motorcade in one of Baghdad's plush neighborhoods on August 1.
It said Iraqi security forces clashed with the fleeing attackers and destroyed their car. There was no independent confirmation of the report.
Last year, the higher council for the Islamic revolutions in Iraq, another opposition group, stated that Qusay escaped an assassination attempt made by two army officers from the special security department.
The group said Qusay survived from death on October 19th from a failed assassination attempt carried out by Lt. Kamel Abbas al-Hadidi and Maj. Hussein al-Douri and they were arrested and executed later. The group added that the two men tried to collide Qusay's car which he was personally riding.
Qusay, who was born in 1966, derives his power from running the Republican Guard, rarely appears in the local media and often avoids public meetings or appearances.
In 1999, Asharq al-Awsat reported that Saddam granted Qusay wide powers to take on the duties of the presidency in case of an emergency, prompting speculation that he was being groomed to take over the Iraqi presidency. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
