More attacks on US feared after killing of brothers
Experts warn that Saddam may resort to hidden biological weapons in revenge
The killing of Saddam Hussein's sons would not stop resistance against the American military occupation of Iraq - and the level of attacks was likely to escalate, observers warned yesterday.
An opposition leader said the ousted president might seek revenge with biological or chemical weapons. The US military yesterday released post-mortem photographs of Uday and Qusay Hussein, hoping proofs of their deaths would weaken resistance to the US-led occupation of Iraq.
Mr Hussein's sons were number two and three on the US list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis from the toppled regime.
Officials said the 11th most-wanted person, head of the Special Republican Guard, Barzan Abd al-Ghafur Sulayman Majid al-Tikriti, had also been arrested, leaving 18 - including Mr Hussein - unaccounted for.
About 200 heavily armed American soldiers, backed by helicopter gunships, pounded the house in Mosul during a six-hour siege. Four bodies found inside were identified by US officials as being Uday, Qusay, Qusay's 14-year-old son and a bodyguard.
Their deaths were a body-blow to the remnants of the formerly ruling Ba'ath Party and the associated intelligence agencies that were trying to galvanise a guerilla war, said James Phillips, Middle East and terrorism expert at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation. He believed there was no immediate end in sight to the fight against the US.
'Attacks probably won't peter off right away and there's a distinct possibility they may increase as the Ba'athists try to show they're still a factor to be reckoned with,' he said. 'But in the long run, it should reduce the number of people motivated to become recruits.'
Since President George W. Bush declared an end to combat operations on May 1, 44 American soldiers have died in attacks.
Former information minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, known as 'Comical Ali' for his repeated denials of US military successes during the invasion, told Abu Dhabi television that the anti-American attacks would continue as Mr Hussein's sons were not behind them. The two men had been 'hidden and were not in a position to resist or lead a resistance'.
The chairman of the Union of Independent Iraqis, Abbas Mehdi, had a starker warning - Mr Hussein might yet use alleged stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction to avenge his sons' deaths.
'Many people believe that Saddam has chemical or biological weapons,' said Dr Mehdi, a political scientist at St Cloud State University in Minnetonka, in the US state of Minnesota. 'He doesn't have maybe nuclear weapons. Maybe Saddam will want revenge for the killing of his sons.'
The killings meant more psychologically than in practical terms to Iraqis. Uday and Qusay had committed serious crimes and many would have preferred their capture. 'They would have liked them to face justice and talk about their crimes,' Dr Mehdi said. 'This would have been more rewarding to a lot of Iraqi people.'
Iraq-born American Louay Bahry, a professor at the University of Qatar, said the death of the brothers was an important sign to Iraqis.
'The symbols and personalities of the old regime are disintegrating and being reduced in numbers and power,' Dr Bahry said. 'People will want to join the new wave.'
