By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer
CAIRO, Egypt - Iraqi officials said Sunday that Syrian authorities had captured Saddam Hussein's half-brother and 29 other officials of the deposed dictator's Baath Party in Syria and handed them over to Iraq in an apparent goodwill gesture....
Washington has long accused Syria of harboring and aiding former members of Saddam's toppled Baathist regime suspected of involvement in the deadly insurgency against U.S.-led forces in Iraq.
"The capture appeared to be a goodwill gesture by the Syrians to show that they are cooperating," one Iraqi official told the AP.
Read the whole thing here.
Initial reports had only mentioned Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, who is himself important because he supposedly has been the major figure channeling funds to the Iraqi insurgency. But news of the capture of 29 of his associates is icing on the cake. And as the Baathist element is taken out Zarqawi and his mad minions will be further isolated, fighting on in a land not their own.
UPDATE:
It now appears that the Syrian government had nothing to do with the capture of Saddam's half-brother. He was taken by Syrian Kurds and handed over to Iraqi Kurds. There has been no attempt by Assad to curry favor with the US here. It is just tribalism at work again.
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