Revealed: the man who betrayed Saddam

The identity of the man who betrayed Saddam Hussein, giving the location of his bolthole to US Special Forces in December last year, was revealed last night.

The identity of the man who betrayed Saddam Hussein, giving the location of his bolthole to US Special Forces in December last year, was revealed last night.

Mohammed Omar Ibrahim al-Musslit, a relative and bodyguard who was spotted alongside Saddam in the former Iraqi leader's last public appearance in Baghdad, was the one who gave away the secret, according to the BBC. Mr al-Musslit was one of those trusted to guard the leader when he fled Baghdad in a white Oldsmobile as US troops marched into the city on 9 April 2003.

The crucial information was elicited after Mr al-Musslit was arrested by US Special Forces in a raid in Baghdad. He was flown to Tikrit and persuaded under interrogation to pass on the location of his former boss.

Major General Ray Odierno, head of the 4th Infantry Division with responsibility for the Tikrit area, told the BBC: "What he said was, 'This is where Saddam is. This is where he's been for the last few days and if you go here, you'll find him." Officially the US will not lelease his identity - only revealing that he was "a middle-aged man who went pear-shaped". But people close to Saddam confirmed that Mr al-Musslit was the betrayer.

The tip-off was received on 13 December, and Saddam was captured later that same day, in a spiderhole near a farmhouse about ten miles south-east of his hometown of Tikrit.

However, because the information was not given willingly, Mr al-Musslit will not benefit from the $25m (£14m) reward that had been offered for information leading to the former dictator's capture.